How to avoid holiday scams

The American Wild West was given a reboot with the arrival of the internet and the ability for thieves to target everyone with an internet connection. It took a mere three weeks following the arrival of email and internet messaging for the infamous “419 advance fee scam” (asking for a fee to provide people with a supposed bigger sum of money) that originated in Nigeria. It was named after article number (419) of the Nigerian Criminal Code. Before the internet arrived, it was carried out by traditional letter and then fax.