Spanish Prisoner Letter

This type of scam (419), originally known as the “Spanish Prisoner Letter”, has been carried out since at least the sixteenth century via ordinary postal mail.

We have been called everything from 419ers, to  scammers,  and yahoo-yahoo etc by the world and Nigerians have been treated as scum everywhere due to this letter crime.

It is rather interesting to discover that this crime afterall did not originate from Nigeria but Spain; one wonders why it is no longer associated with it origin unlike many other ‘things’ that are to date known by their origins. Is it because it no longer exists in Spain or because Nigeria has been made the escape goat, so that it will be darker than it appears?

Advance fee fraud or ‘419′ fraud (named after the relevant section of the Nigerian Criminal Code) is a popular crime with the West African organised criminal networks. There are a myriad of schemes and scams - mail, faxed and telephone promises designed to facilitate victims parting with money. All involve requests to help move large sums of money with the promise of a substantial share of the cash in return.

This type of scam, originally known as the “Spanish Prisoner Letter”, has been carried out since at least the sixteenth century via ordinary postal mail. These scams have come to be associated in the public mind with Nigeria due to the massive proliferation of such confidence tricks from that country since the mid-eighties, although they are often also carried out in other African nations, and increasingly from European cities with large Nigerian populations, notably London and Amsterdam.

The laws from Section 419 and laws in place in other jurisdictions criminalising the offences do not scare away the criminals who profit from these crimes. The stakes and profits are simply too high and many government officials are believed to be involved with the criminal gangs.

Victim’s individual monetary losses can range from the low thousands into multi-millions. True figures are often impossible to ascertain, because many victims, embarrassed by their naiveté and feeling personally humiliated, do not report the crime to the authorities. Others, having lost so much themselves, become “part of the gang” recruiting more victims from their own country of residence. There are tragic cases of victims being unable to cope with the losses and committing suicide.

SOURCE: Met Police

**NOTE: This is not a justification for this economic crime as perpertuated by criminals all over the world. 

Rate this:

1.5

Build An eBay Business Without Selling A Thing!