419 scam: "Lamido S"<lamidos@capriottis.com> Urgent Response.

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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:

This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "million united states 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)
- ",000,000" (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)
- "00,000.00" (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: "Lamido S" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <lamsan81@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 2010 17:45:21 -0800
Subject: Urgent Response.

I wish to use this medium to inform you that your CONTRACT/INHERITANCE Payment of USD$15,000,000.00(fifteen Million United States Dollars) from CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA have been RELEASED and APPROVEDfor onward transfer to you via an ATM CARD which you will use to withdraw all the USD$15,000,000.00 in any ATM SERVICE MACHINE in any part of the world,but the maximum you can withdraw in a day is USD$15,000.00 Only.
Kindly view the attached letter for the full details of your payment.

Best Regards.
Alh. Lamido S.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam