June 13, 2002

District Attorney Nola Tedesco Foulston reminds consumers to ignore any solicitation or communication from individuals attempting to convince them to give out personal financial information.  Foulston said that her office has received an unusually large number of inquiries from local citizens this week who have received such solicitations, especially via faxes and e-mails, concerning what is known as the "Nigerian Bank Scam," the "Nigerian E-mail scam" or the "419 scam."  The number 419 refers to the Nigerian penal code against fraud.

 These scams have been around for years.  Citizens have been receiving letters from Nigeria, and more recently from South Africa and other African nations, making requests for assistance in exchange for a large profit.  Now those fraudulent attempts, being sent out via facsimile and the internet, cost the sender almost nothing and thus provide a more efficient method of attempting to defraud individuals.

 The scam typically offers millions of dollars if the recipient will simply turn over their bank account number to the scam artist.  The "con" typically  involves a claim that there is a member of the military or government who has access to  money "hidden" from their government and requests the U.S. citizen's assistance in transferring this money through their personal account.  In exchange for this assistance, the citizen is promised a significant percentage of the money. 

 These solicitations are all simply ways to steal money from the victim's financial account(s).  The best thing to do with these letters is to delete them.  The United States Secret Service has an ongoing effort targeting these Nigerian scams.                                                                                                                          

For additional information, contact Joe Kisner, Deputy District Attorney, Civil, Consumer Fraud and Economic Crime Division at 383-7921