419 scammers plead guilty in US

African trio admit attempts to defraud via spam.

Three men, two from Nigeria and a third from Senegal, entered guilty pleas in a Brooklyn, New York, courtroom last week after being deported from the Netherlands to face trial for running a series of ‘419’ spam scams.

Operating in the usual manner for such scams, the trio sent out waves of email promising recipients large amounts of money, on various pretexts; the scammers would then insist on payments for spurious legal fees and other measures required to access the non-existent cash, in some cases making large amounts out of hopeful victims before it became clear that the promised millions would never materialise.

The trio are thought to have made in excess of $1.2 million from the scams. A fourth man is also in the process of deportation to the US after fleeing to Nigeria. All four could face sentences of up to 20 years imprisonment.

More details are in reports at

The Register


here

or

SC Magazine


here

, with comment from

Sophos


here

.

Posted on 04 February 2008 by

Virus Bulletin