Artists Against 419 (AA419) has carried out a 48-hour online protest against advanced fee fraud, aka the 419 scam.

The protest is an organised version of the SlashDot effect – whereby a huge number of visitors turn up at a site, overwhelming its bandwidth allocation. The virtual flash mob began at midnight on 1 August and has already taken down three of its targets.

The organisers hope to shut down 4 fake lottery web sites in less than 48 hours and make web hosting companies, the authorities and the media more aware of the problem of the Nigerian 419 fraud, its lottery variant and other criminal fake websites.

The site calls on Netizens to visit the fake sites and repeatedly download all their images. As a result, the site holders lose money and the ISP hosting the site shuts it down.

Artists Against 419 does not only advocate attacking the fake bank sites. It also recommends that readers report the fraudulent activity to relevant authorities.

The next flash mob (the 9th) is planned on September 1st.

From The Register.