In February 2003, Jerry Fasovsky, a 72-year-old scam victim from the Czech Republic, shot and killed a clerk at the Nigerian Embassy in Prague after learning that he would not be able to get back the $600,000 he lost in a 419 scam.
In 2006, it was reported that Louis Gottschalk, a prominent American psychologist and neurologist known for being the first to diagnose President Reagan’s Alzheimer’s disease, lost $3 million to a sting operation over a 10-year period. Edward Mezvinsky, the former Iowa Congressman, stole money from clients, friends and family to cover losses he incurred from a Nigerian scam. In 2007, Mike Cox, the Michigan state prosecutor, announced that Thomas Katona, a county treasurer, was being sentenced to up to 14 years in prison for embezzling $1.2 million in public funds to invest in the same scam.
