History Main / FourOneNineScam

[[folder:Real Life]]
* We won't put any specific cases here, only the scam strategies and stories that are discovered, with the added bonus of helping people avoid such pitfalls. For more details, see the [[Analysis/FourOneNineScam Analysis page]].

* Let's start with the UrExample, for historical value if nothing else, the above mentioned "Spanish prisoner" trick: In its original form, the confidence trickster tells his victim (the mark) that he is (or is in correspondence with) a wealthy person of high estate who has been imprisoned in Spain under a false identity. Some versions had the imprisoned person being an unknown or remote relative of the mark. Supposedly the prisoner cannot reveal his identity without serious repercussions, and is relying on a friend (the confidence trickster) to raise money to secure his release. In this classic [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigeon_drop pigeon drop game archetype]], the confidence trickster offers to let the mark put up some of the funds, with a promise of a greater monetary reward upon release of the prisoner plus a non-pecuniary incentive, gaining the hand of a beautiful woman represented to be the prisoner's daughter. After the mark has turned over the funds, he is informed further difficulties have arisen, and more money is needed. With such explanations, the trickster continues to press for more money until the victim is cleaned out, or declines to put up more funds.
** Should the original con actually run to its fulfillment, the traditional ending is to hire a local woman, dress her up in some finery and have her meet with the mark, tearfully inform him that the prisoner was killed during the escape, and that she now also has to flee to avoid assassins. She then hands over a small but significant sum of money with the promise of more to come, kisses the mark, and vanishes.
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* In the ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6TheSeries'' episode "De-Based", Fred recieves an e-mail from the royal family of "Spamivia". Clicking the link downloads a virus to Basemax that convinces her she's the Queen of Spamivia, and anyone who says she isn't is a traitor.

* In ''Lagoon'' by Creator/NnediOkorafor (a story about aliens visiting Lagos), one of the many incidental characters is a man running scams out of an internet cafe, justifying it by claiming that the white people he scams wouldn't fall for it if they weren't a bit racist anyway. [[spoiler:Once he sees a [[OurSpiritsAreDifferent Masquerade]] and an alien entering the computer, he figures it's time to give it up.]]

* ''Yes Man'' by Danny Wallace (The book which inspired [[Film/YesMan the Jim Carrey film]] of the same name) has Danny being roped into such a scam, partly out of not recognising it as such and partly because the premise of the book is that he's under a self-imposed obligation to say "yes" to any offer he receives from a stranger. Fortunately, he tells one of his friends about it before he wires any money or shares any of his details, and the friend helps him turn the tables on the scammer.

In RealLife, [[TropeNamers the term derives from Section 419 of the]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigerian_Criminal_Code Nigerian Criminal Code]], which prohibits fraud and details the punishments and penalties that await fraudsters. However, it's used to refer to all scams of this kind, even when they don't involve Nigeria or bank accounts at all. The RealLife workings of this trope are explained in greater detail on the [[Analysis/FourOneNineScam Analysis page]]. But to be a trope, it helps to use shorthand, and that's why it nearly always involves a Nigerian with a big bank account he can't access. This Nigerian is also often a prince, even though Nigeria is a republic and not a monarchy (not that the mark would be expected to know this), [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigerian_traditional_rulers although it does have traditional ceremonial "princes"]] (not that the mark would be expected to know that either).

The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance-fee_scam advance fee fraud]], known colloquially as the '''419 scam''', is a form of Internet fraud commonly associated with UsefulNotes/{{Nigeria}} (hence its alternative name, the Nigerian Prince scam). The character is contacted by someone who claims (in suspiciously shaky English) to have a large sum of money which is rightfully his but which he cannot access for various reasons (sealed account, locked trust fund, etc.), and he needs the mark's help to be able to access it. If he helps out, he'll get a substantial share of the money, which could be millions of dollars. To do this, the scammer typically needs the mark's own bank account to help him transfer the money, and he needs some of the mark's own money in advance to help authorize the transfer, bribe officials, or do anything else the scammer can think of. But the money doesn't exist; once the scammer gets the mark's money or access to his bank account, he cuts off all contact. It's basically the "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Prisoner Spanish Prisoner]]" scam for the Internet age.

* One episode of ''Series/{{Castle}}'' had a con artist as the BodyOfTheWeek. While investigating his background, the team discovered that he had received a 419 scam e-mail and proceeded to scam the scammer out of ten grand.

* Right at the first issue of ''Comicbook/GothamCitySirens'', we have Catwoman wondering what Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn did to the money stolen from Hush that she gave them. Ivy's part was sent to a reforestation project; Harley's part, well...

* Manages to reach ''Equestria'' in ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/109516/dear-friend Dear Friend]]'', within the [[Fanfic/TriptychContinuum Triptych Continuum]]. Spike fires off a series of ersatz scrolls after ingesting some [[StealthPun "griffon-made canned lunch meat"]], one of which is clearly based on a classic 419. It involves the previously-unsuspected son of Sombra, twenty million bits deposited in Ponyville, and a request to help free the money so it can be used for retaking the homeland after the actions of the maniacal Preencess Celestia and the knownownown insane killer unicorn, Twilight Sparkle. (The scroll is filled with similar errors, including "horsepital" and "proponysal".) And just to top it off, it's signed "Sucker Bet".

* In ''FanFic/AYoungGirlsDelinquencyRecord'', while touring Africa, Tanya and Visha meet with a man who claims to be the exiled king of a gold-rich nation seeking their help to return to assume the throne. Tanya, for shits and giggles, decides to help him. [[spoiler:He's 100% legit.]]

* ''[[http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/okorafor_11_16/ Afrofuturist 419]]'' by Creator/NnediOkorafor has a Nigerian astronaut trapped on a SpaceStation being the subject of a FourOneNineScam InSpace.

* In ''VideoGame/CrusaderKings 2'', you can be contacted by someone claiming to represent an Abyssinian prince. If you have the "Scholar" trait, you can reply by pointing out that the names in the message [[GeniusBonus aren't Abyssinian]].

* In ''VideoGame/{{Doom 3}}'', if you took the PDA from Larry Kaczynski, one of his messages contains a 419 scam written by a certain "John Okonkwo" (included in this link [[https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/pc/672365-doom-3-bfg-edition/faqs/31621 here]]).

* ''WebComic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal'': [[https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/scam "Scam"]] explains how claiming to be from Nigeria in these scams is a way to weed out potential non-stupid responders.

* ''Fanfic/TheBoltChronicles'': Subverted in "The Autobiography" when a message from a Nigerian prince shows up in Penny’s email inbox. Penny deletes it, but it turns out the offer is genuine and she misses out on a big payday.