Inua Ellams was walking through the streets of Lagos, the bustling former capital of Nigeria, when he began noticing a recurring phrase, spray-painted on to the sides of homes. “This house is not for sale,” it read. “Beware of 419.”
The number refers to section four, chapter 19 of the Nigerian criminal code, which specifically deals with fraud – obtaining goods or property by false pretences – and the warnings were painted on houses to deter conmen who would access empty properties and sell them without the owner’s consent. Now the criminal code reference has become a catch-all term for Nigerian cons and illicit financial activity.
