US DIPLOMATIC MISSION TO GHANA
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US DIPLOMATIC MISSION TO GHANA
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What is a "419" Scam? "419" is the number of the Nigerian criminal code section dealing with fraud. In the most common formulation, someone from an African country contacts you and claims they are the relative of some important government figure, or a high level banking official, and in order to gain the release of a huge sum of money held in their country, the funds must be sent to a foreign account (yours) through a check or wire transfer. They say that if you send a portion of the money back, you can keep the rest. The checks they send you for deposits are counterfeit, but the money you send them from your account is real. In order to send you the money via a wire transfer, they'll ask for your bank account and financial institution routing numbers. With your financial data in hand, the scammers will create a counterfeit check drawn on your account and deposit it into theirs. There are numerous variations of this scam - the loot may be gold bars or diamonds and your funds (or just your account numbers) are needed to gain the release of the treasure. If you are the cautious type and decline to send funds by wire, you may be invited to come to Africa to inspect the loot in person. Some gullible Americans have actually traveled to Africa with large amounts of cash in order to "buy in" to one of these scams. When they arrive in Africa, they are quickly relieved of their cash and threatened with death if they don't leave immediately. Needless to say, neither local law enforcement nor the US Embassy are able to recover funds lost in such a scam.  |
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