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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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  (+225 +229 +234 +27 +31 +32 +34 +44 other)
• Company names mentioned in 419 spam:
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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.

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

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

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "million us dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
  • "central bank of nigeria" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
• This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
  

Fraud email example:

From: COMFORT MADU <comfortmadu1@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2006 12:08:27 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: CONFIDENTIAL MEMO


CONFIDENTIAL MEMO
Date: 20/6/06


Sir,
I am, Mrs. Comfort Madu, the new confidential Secretary to the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor (CBN) Prof. C.Soludo. I have an urgent information that is vital to you, if you promise that you will not betray me.
The information is about your outstanding contract payment with the Federal government of Nigeria, which you are supposed to receive through the apex bank.

My boss and some of his colleagues in government are involved in your transaction has conspired to confused you to divert your fund to another account, and the strategy they employed is by demanding several charges from you, so that you will feel frustrated and abandon the fund, thereby it will open an avenue for them to refer your fund as unclaimed and it will be transferred to their coded account. And again conspired to confused by send fax’s and mails to you from many offices.
Recently, Our President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo mandated my boss to release partial payment of your fund to you, but he did not pass the information to you as he kept the letter on my care.
Please this information I am giving to you is a great risk on my side, but I know that if you get your partial payment of USD15, 000, 000. 00 Fifteen Million US Dollars) as directed by the Presidency in the mandate, you will not forget my efforts.
Please if you are not going to put me into trouble about this development, kindly contact me through my email address as given above for further details on how to proceed towards the successful remittance of your fund before my boss and his friends will succeed in their evil plans of transferring your money into their own different unknown accounts.
I look forward to hear from you.
Best regards,
Mrs. Comfort Madu


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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam