Nigerian scams are prevalent throughout the world and many people have heard of them and are aware of the methods used. However, still today people are being taken advantage of by many of these methods. These types of activities are often called "419" scams in references to the fraud section of the Nigerian penal code.

How this normally takes place is an individual or company will get an email from a supposed official who is representing the family of a foreign government or company. The correspondence makes an offer to transfer millions of dollars into your bank account to move money out of their own country. There is usually some long back story explaining why they can’t directly access their money at this time. In exchange for letting them use your bank account they will let you keep a portion of the money, usually several million dollars. You will be provided copies of official looking documents, be asked to provide some documents of your won, perhaps even travel overseas. As it is getting close to the time to collect your millions some difficulty will arise such as the need to pay a bank fee, taxes or some type of costs for getting the money released and you will be asked to pay those fees with the promise of getting reimbursed in addition to your millions you are about to received. This will basically go on until the victim stops paying for these unexpected costs.

Some websites have been started to "scam the scammers" by corresponding with person originating the Nigerian scams. While have no intent of every sending any money and knowing they will never received millions. Instead they try to tie up the time and money of those who are perpetrating the scam. One should take great care in protecting themselves and we don’t recommend the average person do something along these lines. Instead you should simply delete the emails you receive for these Nigerian scams.

Why are Nigerian scams so more prevalent in originating from Nigeria as opposed to other countries? There are several reasons that contribute to the problem. One is that there is very high unemployment in the country. Compared to other African countries Nigerians are also better educated and have a better understanding of the English language. Another problem is that the government of Nigeria has become less helpful in fighting the crime. In recent years the government stance has shifted to blaming the victims for their greed.