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For nearly a year, Security Management and ASIS Dynamics have provided updates on attempts by a ring of Nigerian scam artists to lure Society members into fraudulent business relationships. Many ASIS members are still reporting contact from the scam artists. To help safeguard the Society's membership, the following update constitutes the most detailed information on the scam yet presented in the hope that if members are forewarned, they will be forearmed.
It is believed that the source of contact information for the scam artists is a stolen, or otherwise illegally obtained, copy of the 1994 ASIS Dynamics Directory. Using the names and addresses of the membership from that issue, the scam artists have sent letters attempting to initiate business relationships for the alleged purpose of transferring a large amount of money out of Nigeria via the recipient's bank account. In exchange for cooperation, the recipient is promised a cut of the funds. In reality, those who have become involved in the fraud have lost the contents of their bank accounts, and in 1995, one American citizen lured to Nigeria by the scam artists also lost his life. Numerous other foreign nationals are currently reported as missing and may also be dead.
4-1-9. According to the U.S. Secret Service's Financial Crimes Division, this type of scam is termed Advance Fee Fraud (or-as it is known internationally-"4-1-9" fraud after the section of the Nigerian penal code addressing fraud schemes. The con artists do not single out individuals-they mail en masse, using trade and professional directories, newspapers, and other sources of foreign addresses, looking for the one out of many who believes in the possibility of easy money.
In the 4-1-9 scheme, an individual or company is contacted by mail by a Nigerian purporting to be a civil...