419 Fraud


The definition of 419 fraud is a common form of Internet fraud. A scammer in a foreign country will send a mass email claiming to have inherited a large sum of money, but have some impediment to being able to access it, such as an estate tax or a corrupt government. The targets of the scam are told they will share in the fortune if they help the scammer access the money, usually by sending their bank account information or by sending a check to help cover the taxes or fees on the inheritance. Of course, there is no fortune, and the scammer just takes the victim’s money. The “419” name arises from the Nigerian law outlawing this kind of fraud because many of the first scammers to use this system were based in Nigeria.

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