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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.

Victims never receive this non-existent fortune but are tricked into sending their money to the criminals, who remain anonymous. They hide their real identity and location by using fake names and fake postal addresses as well as communicating via anonymous free email accounts and mobile phones.

Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!

Read more about such scams here or in our 419 FAQ. Use the Scam-O-Matic to verify suspect emails.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "paul watson" <watson415@msn.com>
Reply-To: paul_watson@ny.com
Date: Sun, 09 Oct 2005 10:52:04 +0000
Subject: CONTACT ME ASAP.





MR.PAUL WATSON
HEAD OF INVESTIGATION DEPARTMENT
HSBC Bank PLC
180 Baker Street
London
NW1 5RU
England


DEAR FRIEND,

I AM SEEKING YOUR COOPERATION TO PRESENT YOU TO MY BANK AS THE
NEXT OF KIN TO MR ANDREAS SCHRANNER, A FOREIGN CONTRACTOR FROM GERMANY WHO
DEID IN A PLANE CRASH ON JULY 25 2000 WITH HIS WIFE MARIA AND THEIR
DAUGHTER, EICH WITH HER HUSBAND AND THEIR TWO CHILDREN PERISHED IN THE AIR
FRANCE CONCORDE NEWYORK BOUND FLIGHT; PLEASE CLICK HERE BELOW FOR
VERIFICATION.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/859479.stm


BEFORE HIS DEATH HE WAS A CONTRACTOR TO BRITISH NATIONAL PETROLEUM
COOPERATION (BNPC) AND HAS A BANK BALANCE WITH MY BANK TO THE AMOUNT OF (£30
MILLION POUNDS STERLING GB) WHICH WILL BE PAYED TO YOU AS HIS
BENEFICIARY.FOR YOUR INFORMATION, I AM THE HEAD OF INVESTIGATION DEPARTMENT
WITH HSBC BANK PLC LONDON,

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS HSBC BANK PLC, MANDATED ME TO LOOK FOR ANY
KNOWN RELATION OF MR ANDREAS SCHRANNER, SINCE, AFTER HIS DEATH ALL MY
EFFORTS TRACES HAS NOT BEEN SUCCESSFUL. IT CAME TO MY UNDERSTANDING THAT
THEIR IS NO RELATIVE. BASED ON THAT, I AM WRITING YOU, TO ASK FOR YOUR
COOPERATION TO FRONT YOU AS THE SUPPOSE NEXT OF KIN/BUSINESS PARTNER TO THE
LATE ANDREAS SCHRANNER TO ENABLE US CLAIM THIS MONEY BECAUSE IT WILL AMOUNT
TO INJUSTICE IF WE DO NOT TAKE THIS DECISIVE STEP TO SECURE THIS DEPOSIT AND
INVEST IT, BECAUSE IF NOBODY COMES FORWARD TO CLAIM THE FUND IT WILL BE
FORFIETED TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT BASED ON THAT I HAVE CONTACTED YOU TO
ASISST ME IN MAKING THIS TRANSACTION A REALITY.

I ONLY HAVE TO APPROVE YOUR APPLICATION AS THE NEXT OF KIN AND THE FUND(30
MILLION POUNDS) WILL BE PAID TO YOU AS THE BENEFICIARY .WE ARE TO SHARE THIS
MONEY BETWEEN OURSELVES, YOU WILL RETAIN 30% OF THE TOTAL FUND 60% FOR ME
AND 10% WE WILL DONATE TO CHARITY ORGANIZATIONS AND TSUNAMI VICTIMS IF YOU
ARE REALY INTERESTED IN THIS OFFER YOU SHOULD CONTACT ME THROUGH THIS EMAIL
ADDRESS:paul_watson@ny.com

I WILL NEED YOUR NAME IN FULL ADDRESS, FAX AND PHONE NUMBER TO ENABLE ME
COMMENCE ON SECURING ALL LEGAL DOCUMENT THAT WILL PROOF YOU AS THE NEXT OF
KIN/BUSINESS PARTNER TO OUR DECEASED CUSTOMER MR. ANDREAS SCHRANNER.

NOTE THAT THIS TRANSACTION IS RISK FREE. I WILL COMMENCE IMMEDIATELY IN
SECURING ALL LEGAL DOCUMENT IN YOUR FAVOR ON YOUR ACCEPTANCE TO FULLY
COOPERATE WITH ME.

I AWAIT YOUR URGENT RESPONSE TO ENABLE US JUMPSTART THIS PROJECT AND NUTURE
IT TO REALITY.

YOURS FAITHFULLY,

MR. PAUL WATSON.


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