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I think it was derived from the section 419 of d constitution with is concerned with advanced free fraud. Thus the tag 419. I think!

it was enacted in 1988 by the then Gen babangida's regime known as degree 419

Nigeria has earned a reputation as being at the center of email scammers, and the number 419 refers to the article of the Nigerian Criminal Code (part of Chapter 38: "Obtaining property by false pretenses; Cheating" dealing with fraud. In Nigeria, scammers use computers in Internet cafés to send mass emails promising potential victims riches or romance, and to trawl for replies. They refer to their targets as Magas, slang developed from a Yoruba word meaning "fool".