what is the nigerian letter scam 
the nigerian letter scam also known as advance fee fraud or 419 fraud is a scheme in which a sender requests help facilitating the illegal transfer of money the letter may be sent by mail fax or email the most common method the author is typically a self proclaimed government or military official bank officer or business executive who explains they need access to a foreign account to transfer money out of nigeria in exchange the sender offers the recipient a commission sometimes up to several million dollars depending on the perceived gullibility of the target the scammers then request money to pay for some of the costs associated with the transfer such as taxes legal fees and bribes to government officials if the scammers are successful in receiving money they will either disappear immediately or try to get more money with claims of additional transfer problems 