“419 is just a game, you are the losers, we are the winners” - Nigerian Song

Nigerian 419 scammers anthem is titled - “I Go Chop Your Dollars”. It aired few months ago as a CD penned by Osofia and is hugely popular in Lagos:

“419 is just a game, you are the losers, we are the winners.
White people are greedy, I can say they are greedy
White men, I will eat your dollars, will take your money and disappear.
419 is just a game, we are the masters, you are the losers.”

“Nobody feels sorry for the victims,” Samuel, a reformed-scammer said.

Scammers, he said, “have the belief that white men are stupid and greedy. They say the American guy has a good life. There’s this belief that for every dollar they lose, the American government will pay them back in some way.”

LA Times writes about Nigerian 419 scammers and follows Samuel who sheds light on their lifestyle, hopes and modus operandi.

In short Nigerian 419 scams is their surefire way to - “get rich quick”. The irony is that they actually “get rich quick” by defrauding people with dreams of “get rich quick”.

The article identifies the following types of Nigerian scams:
Advance-fee frauds, also known as 419, appear to offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get rich or find the girl of your dreams. The scams can involve phony websites, forged documents and Nigerians in America posing as government officials. Here are some of the most popular:

The “next of kin” scam, tempting you to claim an inheritance of millions of dollars in a Nigerian bank belonging to a long-lost relative, then collecting money for various bank and transfer fees.

The “laundering crooked money” scam, in which you are promised a large commission on a multibillion-dollar fortune, persuaded to open an account, contribute funds and sometimes even travel to Nigeria.

The “Nigerian National Petroleum Co.” scam, in which the scammer offers cheap crude oil, then demands money for commissions and bribes.

The “overpayment” scam, in which fraudsters send a bank check overpaying for a car or other goods by many thousands of dollars, persuading the victim to transfer the difference back to Nigeria.

The “job offer you can’t refuse” scam, in which an “oil company” offers a job with an overly attractive salary and conditions (in one example, $180,000 a year and $300 per hour for overtime) and extracts money for visas, permits and other fees.

The “winning ticket in a lottery you never entered” scam - including, lately, the State Department’s green card lottery.

The “gorgeous person in trouble” scam, in which scammers in chat rooms and on Christian dating sites pose as beautiful American or Nigerian women, luring lonely men into Internet intimacy over weeks or months then asking them to send money to get them out of trouble.

I would add to it their recent venture in selling cheap cellphones and using blog comment for advertising scam.