Comment by dredmorbius
6 months ago
"419" refers to the Nigerian criminal code section which defines the type of scam:
<https://web.archive.org/web/20050308040611/http://www.nigeri...>
Much as with other toponyms, the origins are in fact region-specific, though the term has become more general with time.
The generic term is "advanced-fee scam":
> the name simply originates with Nigeria
Maybe ingest the entire comment you're replying to first. Especially if you're simply going to agree with me in the very next point:
> though the term has become more general with time