419 Scam Spam

The 419 scam is one of the oldest on the internet. In fact, the scam itself predates junk e-mail all together. Victims were originally lured in via fax or even snail mail.

There's a former royal family in Nigeria that was ousted by a coup. The father is dead, and now the son is trying to get the family money out of the country. For your help you'll get 10% of $16 million.

Apparently the best way to find someone to help is to send thousands of random junk email messages to people you don't know. If you fall for this scam you are an idiot.

At first it sounds like all you'll have to do is help transfer some money around by providing an account. Then you have to give them power of attorney. Eventually they'll say they need $14,000 up front to help cover the transfer.

There's a great story about a bank worker who embezzled funds from her employer to pay the 419 scammer. She got caught.

Anti-spam filters can radically reduce the amount of 419 scam spam in your inbox. Since many of the letters are hand-written, some will occasionally get through. There's still no complete substitute for using your brain.

Some statistics indicate 419 scam spam may be the 3rd largest industry in Nigeria.

Never engage in any sort of commerce originating from unwanted emails. At best you're supporting spammers. At worst you'll get defrauded.

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