Description

"419" by Canadian writer Will Ferguson reveals a sinister fraud scheme sweeping the world.
Why "419"? The name comes from a paragraph in the Nigerian penal code that deals with fraud. 419 has become a slang with baked crooks; for their victims they say "balama mugu", usually said with contempt. The plot recounts quite credible incidents befalling even today including people we know. And the fraudsters - increasingly confident - spread their nets literally across the world. They touch the finest chords of compassion with the voices of unfortunates in distress. Sound familiar? Until things get rough. Then they take out their business cards, and on them it says:
Do you know who we are?
We are the Mafia.
We will FIND you...
and we will kill you.

The novel "419" was published in 2012. It won the Scotiabank Giller Prize the same year. Prior to the novel's publication, Ferguson was known primarily as a writer of humorous literature. At the award ceremony that honoured the book, the author told the media, "[The story] started with the thought that maybe there really is a Nigerian prince out there somewhere who, for lack of funds, can't get his freedom...but when I started writing it, the plot sank into darkness of its own accord."
Plot synopsis. Henry Curtis - a retired teacher from Calgary, Alberta - dies in a car accident. He committed suicide after being involved in a money scam that would leave his family on the street. After his death, his daughter Laura traveled to Lagos, Nigeria, in an attempt to find out what happened and bring the guilty perpetrator to justice. There, she is drawn into a dizzying personal investigation that turns into a crime scenario quite like a movie. Nigeria turns out to be the cradle of an elaborate fraud scheme - starting on the internet, continuing with phone calls and reaching the most banal blackmail.