Nigeria - The 419 Coalition Website: "The Nigerian Scam Defined
A Five Billion US$ (as of 1996, much more now) worldwide Scam which has run since the early 1980's under Successive Governments of Nigeria. It is also referred to as 'Advance Fee Fraud', '419 Fraud' (Four-One-Nine) after a formerly relevant section of the Criminal Code of Nigeria, and 'The Nigerian Connection' (mostly in Europe). However, it is usually called plain old '419' even by the Nigerians themselves. 419 is defined as a sub-classification of Advance Fee Fraud in which the criminals have a West African (primarily Nigerian) connection. There are of course Advance Fee Fraud criminals of many nationalites, operating in many nations, but only Advance Fee Fraud crime with a West African (primarily Nigerian) connection is classified as 419. 419ers operate globally and there are 419er cells in many nations, but Nigeria tends to be the 'home office' of most 419ers regardless of the physical location of an individual cell. 419 crime is multinational and transnational. In recent years the massive use of e-mail and the internet to perpetrate 419 crime has also made it virtually omnipresent."
