Following through on the scheme can be hazardous. Scambusters.org, an Internet watchdog group, says that an American was murdered in Nigeria in 1995 while pursuing a 4-1-9 scam. U.S. Postal Service (USPS) reports show that another victim was confronted by two Nigerians with automatic weapons, and was forced to turn over $4,000 in traveler's checks before receiving permission to leave the country. Another victim lost over $400,000 before reporting the fraud.

The USPS intercepted hundreds of millions of copies of the letter in the 1990s, and continues to intercept copies of the letter on a daily basis, reports show.

Eight out of 10 bags of mail received from Nigeria contain fraudulent letters, Frank Umoski, the USPS operations manager at JFK Airport, said in a press release.

The Central Bank of Nigeria has denied any role, even going so far as to take out full-page ads in The Washington Post and USA Today in 1998 to warn Americans about the scam.

Nigerian police have arrested dozens of people involved in various incarnations of the scheme, and Secret Service agents have been stationed in Nigeria at the U.S. Embassy to help combat the scam.

Anyone who has actually lost money in the scheme should contact the Secret Service at (202) 406-5850, or fax a copy of the fraudulent e-mail to (202) 406-5031.

-Staff writer Garrett M. Graff can be reached at ggraff@fas.harvard.edu.