Editing Advance-fee scam (section)

== Consequences ==
Estimates of the total losses due to scams are uncertain and vary widely, since many people may be too embarrassed to admit that they were gullible enough to be scammed to report the crime. A United States government report in 2006 indicated that Americans lost $198.4 million to Internet fraud in 2006, averaging a loss of $5,100 per incident.<ref name="Rosenberg_Eric" /> That same year, a report in the United Kingdom claimed that these scams cost the economy [[British pound|£]]150 million per year, with the average victim losing £31,000.<ref name="UK_economy">{{cite news|title=Nigeria scams 'cost UK billions'.|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6163700.stm|access-date=June 22, 2012|newspaper=[[BBC News]]|date=November 20, 2006}}</ref> As of 2019, Nigerian letter scams still annually collect $700,000 (${{formatprice|{{Inflation|US|700000|2019}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars{{inflation-fn|US}}) or $2,133 (${{formatprice|{{Inflation|US|2133|2019}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars{{inflation-fn|US}}) per person.<ref name="Leonhardt 2019">{{cite web | last=Leonhardt | first=Megan | title='Nigerian prince' email scams still rake in over $700,000 a year—here's how to protect yourself | website=CNBC | date=2019-04-18 | url=https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/18/nigerian-prince-scams-still-rake-in-over-700000-dollars-a-year.html | access-date=2022-07-22}}</ref>

In addition to the financial cost, many victims also suffer a severe emotional and psychological cost, such as losing their ability to trust people. One man from [[Cambridgeshire]], UK [[self-immolation|burnt himself to death]] with petrol after realizing that the $1.2 million "internet lottery" that he had won was actually a scam.<ref name="internet_scam_suicide">{{cite news|title=Suicide of internet scam victim.|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cambridgeshire/3444307.stm|access-date=June 22, 2012|newspaper=[[BBC News]]|date=January 30, 2004}}</ref> In 2007, a Chinese student at the [[University of Nottingham]] killed herself after she discovered that she had fallen for a similar lottery scam.<ref name="Jaiyue_Wang">{{cite news|title=Web scam drove student to suicide.|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/nottinghamshire/7380093.stm|access-date=June 22, 2012|newspaper=[[BBC News]]|date=May 2, 2008}}</ref>

Other victims lose wealth and friends, become estranged from family members, deceive partners, get divorced, or commit criminal offenses in the process of either fulfilling their "obligations" to the scammers or obtaining more money.<ref name="SMH_2007">{{cite news|title=Nigerian scam victims maintain the faith.|url=https://www.smh.com.au/news/business/nigerian-scam-victims-maintain-the-faith/2007/05/14/1178995057764.html|access-date=June 22, 2012|newspaper=[[Sydney Morning Herald]]|date=May 14, 2007}}</ref> In 2008, an Oregon woman lost $400,000 to a Nigerian advance-fee fraud scam, after an email told her she had inherited money from her long-lost grandfather. Her curiosity was piqued because she actually had a grandfather with whom her family had lost touch, and whose initials matched those given in the email. She sent hundreds of thousands of dollars over a period of more than two years, despite her family, bank staff and law enforcement officials all urging her to stop.<ref name="Song_Anna">{{cite web|last=Song |first=Anna |url=http://www.katu.com/news/34292654.html |title=Woman out $400K to 'Nigerian scam' con artists |publisher=[[KATU]] |date=November 11, 2008 |access-date=June 22, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120618153107/http://www.katu.com/news/34292654.html |archive-date=June 18, 2012 }}</ref> The elderly are particularly susceptible to online scams such as this, as they typically come from a generation that was more trusting,<ref name="FBI_Seniors">{{cite web|url=https://www.fbi.gov/scams-safety/fraud/seniors|title=FBI — Seniors|publisher=[[Federal Bureau of Investigation]]|date=March 22, 2016|access-date=May 12, 2016}}</ref> and are often too proud to report the fraud. They also may be concerned that relatives might see it as a sign of declining mental capacity, and they are afraid to lose their independence.<ref name="Harzog_Beverly">{{cite news|last=Harzog|first=Beverly Blair|title=Protect Elderly Relatives from Credit Card Fraud.|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Business/protect-elderly-relative-credit-card-fraud/story?id=16429891#.T-YtvStYuxI|access-date=June 23, 2012|newspaper=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]|date=May 25, 2012}}</ref>

Victims can be enticed to borrow or embezzle money to pay the advance fees, believing that they will shortly be paid a much larger sum and be able to refund what they had misappropriated. Crimes committed by victims include [[credit card fraud|credit-card fraud]], [[check kiting]], and [[embezzlement]].<ref name="Michigan_embezzlement">{{cite news|author1=Hills, Rusty |author2=Frendewey, Matt |title=Former Alcona County Treasurer Sentenced to 9-14 Years in Nigerian Scam Case. |url=http://mi.gov/ag/0,1607,7-164-34739-170122--,00.html |access-date=June 23, 2012 |newspaper=[[State of Michigan]] |date=June 12, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214074724/http://mi.gov/ag/0%2C1607%2C7-164-34739-170122--%2C00.html |archive-date=February 14, 2012 }}</ref><ref name="Mary_Winker_check_kiting">{{cite news|last=Krajicek|first=David|title=A "Perfect" Life: Mary Winkler Story|url=http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/family/mary_winkler/4.html|access-date=June 23, 2012|newspaper=[[TruTV]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121125063747/http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/family/mary_winkler/4.html|archive-date=2012-11-25|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Liewer_Steve">{{cite news|last=Liewer|first=Steve|title=Navy officer gets prison for stealing from ship safe|url=http://legacy.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20070705-9999-1m5theft.html|access-date=June 23, 2012|newspaper=[[San Diego Union Tribune]]|date=July 5, 2007|archive-date=27 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120627194310/http://legacy.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20070705-9999-1m5theft.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[San Diego]]–based businessman James Adler lost over $5 million in a Nigeria-based advance-fee scam. While [[U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit|a court]] affirmed that various Nigerian government officials (including a governor of the [[Central Bank of Nigeria]]) were directly or indirectly involved, and that Nigerian government officials could be sued in U.S. courts under the "commercial activity" exception to the [[Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act]], Adler was unable to get his money back due to the doctrine of [[unclean hands]] because he had knowingly entered into a contract that was illegal.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2000-05-17 |title=Adler v. Federal Republic of Nigeria {{!}} Ninth Circuit |url=https://www.anylaw.com/case/adler-v-federal-republic-of-nigeria/ninth-circuit/05-17-2000/vIgYQGYBTlTomsSBdfEK |access-date=2023-03-06 |website=anylaw.com}}</ref><ref name="Soto_Onell">{{cite news|last=Soto|first=Onell R.|title=Fight to get money back a loss|url=http://www.utsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040815/news_1m15scamside.html|access-date=June 22, 2012|newspaper=[[San Diego Union Tribune]]|date=August 15, 2004|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202223614/http://www.utsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040815/news_1m15scamside.html|archive-date=December 2, 2013}}</ref>

Some 419 scams involve even more serious crimes, such as [[kidnapping]] or [[murder]]. One such case, in 2008, involves Osamai Hitomi, a Japanese businessman who was lured to [[Johannesburg]], South Africa and kidnapped on September 26, 2008. The kidnappers took him to [[Alberton, Gauteng|Alberton]], south of Johannesburg, and demanded a $5 million ransom from his family. Seven people were ultimately arrested.<ref name="news24_2008_kidnapping">{{cite news|title=Seven in court for 419 kidnap.|url=http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Seven-in-court-for-419-kidnap-20080930|access-date=June 22, 2012|newspaper=News 24|date=September 30, 2008}}</ref> In July 2001, Joseph Raca, a former mayor of [[Northampton, England|Northampton]], UK, was kidnapped by scammers in [[Johannesburg]], South Africa, who demanded a ransom of £20,000. The captors released Raca after they became nervous.<ref name="Raca_kidnapping_2001">{{cite news|title=Kidnapped Briton tells of terror.|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1438872.stm|access-date=June 22, 2012|newspaper=[[BBC News]]|date=July 14, 2001}}</ref> One 419 scam that ended in murder occurred in February 2003, when Jiří Pasovský, a 72-year-old scam victim from the Czech Republic, shot and killed 50-year-old Michael Lekara Wayid, an official at the Nigerian embassy in [[Prague]], and injured another person, after the Nigerian [[Consul (representative)|Consul General]] explained he could not return the $600,000 that Pasovský had lost to a Nigerian scammer.<ref name="mcmafia">{{cite book|title=McMafia|author=Misha Glenny|publisher=Vintage Books|isbn=978-0-09-948125-6|pages=138–141|year=2009}}</ref><ref name="Sullivan_Bob">{{cite web|last=Sullivan|first=Bob|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna3078489|title=Nigerian scam continues to thrive|work=[[NBC News]]| date=March 5, 2003|access-date=June 22, 2012}}</ref><ref name="Delio_Michelle">{{cite news|last=Delio|first=Michelle|title=Nigerian Slain Over E-Mail Scam|url=https://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2003/02/57760|access-date=June 22, 2012|newspaper=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]|date=February 21, 2003}}</ref>

The international nature of the crime, combined with the fact that many victims do not want to admit that they bought into an illegal activity, has made tracking down and apprehending these criminals difficult. Furthermore, the government of Nigeria has been slow to take action, leading some investigators to believe that some Nigerian government officials are involved in some of these scams.<ref name="Sine_Richard">{{cite news|last=Sine|first=Richard|title=Just Deposit $28 Million|url=http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/05.02.96/nigeria-9618.html|access-date=June 23, 2012|newspaper=[[Metro Silicon Valley|Metroactive]]|date=May 2–8, 1996}}</ref> The Nigeria government's establishment of the [[Economic and Financial Crimes Commission]] (EFCC) in 2004 helped with the issue to some degree, although issues with corruption remain.<ref name="EFCC" /><ref name="Oluwarotimi_Abiodun">{{cite news|last=Oluwarotimi|first=Abiodun|title=Nigeria: Police Force Is Corrupt, EFCC Not Sincere – U.S.|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/201205270236.html|access-date=June 23, 2012|newspaper=[[AllAfrica.com]]|date=May 26, 2012}}</ref>

Despite this, there have been some recent successes in apprehending and prosecuting these criminals. In 2004, 52 suspects were arrested in [[Amsterdam]] after an extensive raid, after which almost no 419 emails were reported being sent by local [[internet service providers]].<ref name="Libbenga_Jan">{{cite news|last=Libbenga|first=Jan|title=Cableco 'inside job' aided Dutch 419ers.|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/05/dutch_419_inside_job/|access-date=June 23, 2012|newspaper=[[The Register]]|date=July 5, 2004}}</ref> In November 2004, Australian authorities apprehended Nick Marinellis of [[Sydney]], the self-proclaimed head of Australian 419ers who later boasted that he had "220 African brothers worldwide" and that he was "the Australian headquarters for those scams".<ref name="Haines_Lester">{{cite news|last=Haines|first=Lester|title=Aussie 419 ringleader jailed for four years.|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/08/aussie_419er_jailed/|access-date=June 23, 2012|newspaper=[[The Register]]|date=November 8, 2012}}</ref> In 2008 US authorities in [[Olympia, Washington]], sentenced Edna Fiedler to two years in prison with five years of supervised [[probation]] for her involvement in a $1 million Nigerian cheque scam. She had an accomplice in [[Lagos]], Nigeria, who shipped her up to $1.1 million worth of [[counterfeit]] cheques and money orders with instructions on where to ship them.<ref name="Edna_Fiedler">{{cite news|title=Woman gets prison for 'Nigerian' scam.|url=http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/06/26/Woman_gets_prison_for_Nigerian_scam/UPI-73791214521169/|access-date=June 23, 2012|newspaper=[[United Press International]]|date=June 26, 2008}}</ref>