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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: SARAH JOHNSON <williamsken997@gmail.com>
Reply-To: upscouriercp50@sify.com
Date: Sat, 13 Nov 2010 00:03:23 -0800 (PST)
Subject: DEAR BENEFICIARY UR URGENT REPLY IS REQUIRED.




Good Day To you, My Dear Beneficiary.

We have been waiting for you to contact us for your Confirmable Package that is registered with us for shipping of your Package to your residential location.

This is to inform you that we are in possession of your Parcel which includes a certified cheque worth of  $5.8) and other vital documents that we facilitate the clearance of the cheque in your country.
The cheque is Registered with us by a Lottery commission, to delivery to you, contact Mr .ANDREW MIKE of the United Parcel Service (UPS) with the below email address & telephone number, and reconfirm the following details as this is mandatory.

FULL NAMES,
TELEPHONE,
ADDRESS,
POSTAL,
OCCUPATION,
STATE,
COUNTRY,
This is their contact information is below.
Dr.'s Name ; Andrew Mike.
Email:(upscouriercp50@sify.com)
Telephone: +22-999-224-090

For your information, the Courier fee, VAT fees have been paid by the Lottery Award Promo Board before your package was registered. What you need to pay is the Security keeping fee of the United Parcel Service (UPS) as stated in our privacy terms & condition page, in order to secure your Package.The cost for the Security keeping fee is £150.00 only GBP.

Yours Faithfully,
SARAH JOHNSON



Anti-fraud resources: