Unsolicited commercial e-mail (otherwise known as spam) comes in many forms. Some are as simple and innocent as advertisements for genuine products; others, however, are outright dangerous. And 419 Spam has already cost many people tens of thousands of dollars.

419 Spam is known by many different names; advance-fee fraud, Nigerian Letter/Bank Scam, Russian/Ukrainian Scam, and even more. Each scam also has its own subtle differences, as well, but the purpose of each is the same – to prey on trusting individuals via the internet and talk them out of as much money as possible. And unfortunately, many people have fallen victim to 419 Spam email in the past.

Because the general public is becoming better educated however, and because steps have been taken by law enforcement and government agencies to try and stop 419 Spam, the trend is declining. In fact, 2008 proved to be the end for many 419 Spammers. In May a 24-year-old Oregon man was arrested for his involvement in a $600,000 online scheme, in June a Washington woman was sentenced to 2 years in prison, in September police in Queensland tracked down a Nigerian man involved in his own scheme. Most recently in November of 2008 a web hosting company known as McColo Corporation out of San Francisco, California was shut down after it was revealed that they were providing accounts to several highly-prolific spammers.

All of these blows have proven costly to the market of email spam, though this won’t put an end to it by any means. New spammers pop-up quickly, eager to fill the shoes of their predecessors and cash in on an unsuspecting public.