The Advance-Fee Fraud

An advance-fee fraud is a confidence trick in which the target is persuaded to advance relatively small sums of money in the hope of realizing a much larger gain. Among the variations on this type of scam are the Nigerian Letter (419 fraud or Nigerian money offer and the Spanish Prisoner.

The 419 scam originated in the early 1980s as the oil-based economy of Nigeria declined. Several unemployed university students first used this scam as a means of manipulating business visitors interested in shady deals in the Nigerian oil sector before targeting businessmen in the west, and later the wider population. Scammers in the early-to-mid 1990s targeted companies, sending scam messages via letter, fax, or Telex. The spread of email and easy access to email-harvesting software made the cost of sending scam letters through the Internet inexpensive. In the 2000s, the 419 scam has spurred imitations from other locations in Africa and Eastern Europe.

The number "419" refers to the article of the Nigerian Criminal Code (part of Chapter 38: "Obtaining Property by false pretences; Cheating") dealing with fraud.

The advance-fee fraud is similar to a much older scam known as the Spanish Prisoner scam. The fictitious prisoner would promise to share non-existent treasure with the person who would send them money to bribe their guards.

It is common to receive letters from any of these countries in West Africa: Nigeria, Ghana, Benin, Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Togo, Senegal and Burkina Faso or countries outside of West Africa: South Africa, Spain, and The Netherlands.