Physical harm or death
Some victims have hired private investigators in Nigeria or have personally travelled to Nigeria, without ever retrieving their money. There are cases of victims being unable to cope with the losses and committing suicide. [12]
One American was murdered in Nigeria in June 1995 after being lured by a 419 scam.
In February 2003, a scam victim from the Czech Republic shot and killed Michael Lekara Wayid, an official at the Nigerian embassy in Prague. [13] [14]
29-year old George Makronalli, a Greek man, was murdered in South Africa after responding to a 419 scam. [3]
Kjetil Moe, a Norwegian businessman, was reported missing and ultimately killed after a trade with Nigerian scammers in Johannesburg, South Africa (September 1999). [1]
Mary Winkler is awaiting trial over the shooting of her pastor husband on March 22, 2006, after allegedly being taken for $17,500 in a 419 scam.[15]
Leslie Fountain, a senior technician at Anglia Polytechnic University in England, set himself on fire after falling victim to a scam; Fountain died of his injuries.[16]
Även om det är stort skämt för dom flesta som får brevet ska man nog inte blanda sig in för hårt, de som skickar breven skojjar inte.
"While various figures have wildly claimed that the 419 scam employs as many as 250,000 people in Nigeria, in reality it has often been linked to small organized gangs often working in concert in western cities and in Nigeria. In recent years, the 419 scam has spurred imitations from other locations in Africa and Eastern Europe."