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Advance fee fraud, often also known as the Nigerian money transfer fraud, Nigerian scam or 419 scam after the relevant section of the Nigerian Criminal Code that it violates[1], is a fraudulent scheme to extract money from victims after making them believe they will get an immense fortune. Victims are requested to pay an upfront fee before their purported fortune is released.
This type of scam, originally known as the "Spanish Prisoner Letter" [2], has been carried out since at least the sixteenth century via ordinary postal mail. These scams have come to be associated in the public mind with Nigeria due to the massive proliferation of such confidence tricks from that country since the mid-eighties, although they are often also carried out in other African nations, and increasingly from European cities with large Nigerian populations, notably London, Amsterdam and Madrid and lately also Dubai (United Arab Emirates).
Originally, the schemers contacted mainly heads of companies and church officials, however, the use of e-mail spam and instant messaging for the initial contacts has led to many private citizens also being href = "http://www.experiencefestival.com/1970s">1970s, 1980s, 2004, Aba, African, Amsterdam, Canada, Confidence tricks, Czech Republic, Côte d'Ivoire, Department Of The Treasury, Department of Energy, Dubai, Employment Scams, Federal Trade Commission,
 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Advance fee fraud", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page |
