Watch Out for 4-1-9 scams!

I've just read a very funny story concerning 4-1-9 scams.

Maybe you have seen a recent film with Nicolas Cage where he's a professional con-man and tries to steal money by promising wealth to people. According to the US government, this kind of fraud is labeled 4-1-9 (see the article) and occurs in various forms like: Disbursement of money from wills, Contract fraud, Purchase of real estate, Conversion of hard currency, Transfer of funds from over invoiced contracts, Sale of crude oil at below market prices...

The most successful cases of Advance Fee Fraud is the fund transfer scam. In this scheme, a company or individual will typically receive an unsolicited letter by mail from a Nigerian claiming to be a senior civil servant. In the letter, the Nigerian will inform the recipient that he is seeking a reputable foreign company or individual into whose account he can deposit funds ranging from $10-$60 million that the Nigerian government overpaid on some procurement contract. Initially everything seems very easy, but soon the victim is requested to travel to Nigeria. Individuals are told that a visa will not be necessary to enter the country. The Nigerian con artists may then bribe airport officials to pass the victims through Immigration and Customs. Because it is a serious offense in Nigeria to enter without a valid visa, the victim's illegal entry may be used by the fraudsters as leverage to oblige the victims into releasing funds. And so on... the victim is trapped!

The funny part comes in: There is guy called Mike who has a site dedicated to fighting back against those who send out the notorious 419 e-mails. The story describes a case where the scammer pretended to be "Prince Joe Eboh of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)" and Mike "Father Hector Barnett of the Church of the Painted Breast"! The scammer took the bait and ended up painting his bare breast with the red Masai war-paint as a gesture of faith and belief...!