Some scam artists in Nigeria and other West African countries have engineered a particularly nasty Internet scam, known as the 4-1-9 or advance fee fraud scheme. All classified ad web sites have been fair game to the fraudsters, including online horse ads.

According to the United States Secret Service, the 4-1-9 fraud (which refers to the Nigerian penal code section that addresses these frauds) is conducted by very creative individuals. A “buyer” from overseas sends an e-mail to the seller stating interest in the offered horse. Some of the guises include polo players, Arab princes, medical doctors, breeders, and wealthy owners buying the horses as “presents” for others. The false buyer then sends the seller a cashier’s check for the amount of the horse plus more for shipping. The seller then wires the shipping amount to the shipper. Unfortunately, this “shipper” is either the same person or is in on the scam. The unfortunate seller soon finds that the cashier’s check was counterfeit and that their bank is demanding the money back. Victims have been taken for more than $3,300.

The good news is that the scammers are only after the over-payment of shipping charges; horses are almost never picked up. The fraudsters count on the fact that people have the wrong idea about cashier’s checks.

Mike O’Connor, accounts manager in the embassy banking section of Riggs Bank in London, says that it’s a common fallacy that a cashier’s check or money order is just like cash. “The only difference is that the guarantor is the bank and not the individual. The check can still be cancelled due to loss or theft,” he explained. And of course, it can be counterfeit