Brilliant Article Gets Inside 419 Advance-fee Scam

Mitchell Zuckoff wrote a pheomenal article in the The New Yorker that takes you deep inside an international advance-fee scam (also known as a Nigerian or 419 scheme). The victim (or accomplice depending on your interpretation) is a man in his sixties, a decorated veteran, minister and respected psychotherapist. He got sucked into the scam and it destroyed his life. He lost around $80,000 and as told to pay restitution in the hundreds of thousands. And he ended up being convicted of bank fraud and sentenced to 2 years in jail.

If you ever wanted to understand how these work, read this article. There are many lessons to be learned. For example, if you are ever sent checks to deposit (with the intent of sending the money through your account elsewhere), calling a bank to verify that a check is “good” doesn’t mean much. It could be a real check that was altered. And if you deposit a check and it “clears” that doesn’t mean you are in the clear. A fraudulent check can clear but you are not absolved of all responsibility at that point.