The Facts You Need to Know
There is an old saying that goes "If it sounds to good to be true, it isn't true". That certainly applies to the unsolicited letters and emails individuals and companies have received over the past twenty years offering the recipient large sums of money for assistance in transferring millions of dollars to American banks. These offers originated out of Nigeria and despite that government's (and ours) best efforts, they continue to show up all over the country.
The Secret Service, which handles complaints related to "4-1-9 schemes" (derived from section 419 of the Nigerian Penal Code that addresses this fraud scheme) believes that many people have sent money in response for these requests for assistance, but have not reported their losses out of embarrassment. There are many variations, but they all contain the same basic elements. Click here to view an example of an actual 4-1-9 scheme letter.
Should you receive one of these letters, please do not reply, but report the letter to the Internet Fraud Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.