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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: martin martin <mac_peters07@yahoo.fr>
Date: Fri, 10 Jun 2011 11:45:57 +0100 (BST)
Subject: VERY CONFIDENTIAL


MY DEAR FRIEND,

I KNOW THIS WILL COME TO YOU AS A SURPRISE BECAUSE YOU
DO NOT KNOW ME.I AM MR STEPHEN ADAMS, I WORK IN THE BANK
OF AFRICA COTOUNU,BENIN REPUBLIC OF WEST AFRICA, AUDITING
AND ACCOUNTING DEPARTMENT,I GOT YOUR CONTACT IN MY SEARCH
FOR A HONEST PERSON THROUGH ONE OF MY COLLEAGUES HERE IN
THE BANK WHO SAID THAT I CAN CONFIDE IN YOU.

I WANT YOU TO HELP ME CLEAR THIS  BOX THAT IS ALREADY IN
OVERSEAS WHICH I SHIPPED THROUGH OUR BANK ACCREDITED
SECURITY COMPANY AGENT BUT THE CONTENTS OF THE BOX IS
($20,MILLION UNITED STATE DOLLARS) ALL IN $100.00 BILLS,
BELONGING TO OUR LATE CUSTOMER WHO DIED EARLIER THIS YEAR,
BUT THE SECURITY COMPANY DOES NOT KNOW THAT IT IS MONEY
THAT MY LATE CLIENT HAVE IN THE  BOX.

ALL I WANT YOU TO DO FOR ME NOW IS TO FORWARD TO ME THIS
BELOWING FORMATIONS:

YOUR CURRENT/PRIVATE MAILING ADDRESS YOUR PRIVATE PHONE AND
FAX NUMBER AND I HOPE THAT AT THE END OF THE DAY,YOU WILL
HAVE 40% AND 60% WILL BE FOR ME AND MY COLLEAGUES. MY
IDENTITY MUST NOT BE REVEALED TO ANYBODY.

IF THIS ARRANGEMENT IS OKAY BY YOU, RECOMFIRM YOUR DELIVERY
INFORMATION SUCH AS ,YOUR FULL NAME,YOUR HOME ADDRESS AND
COUNTRY,YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER, AND AGE,

E-MAIL ME AT stephenadams2011@hotmail.com FOR SECURITY REASONS.
OTHER MODALITIES WILL BE DISCUSSED AS SOON AS YOU GET BACK
TO ME INCLUDING SENDING YOU THE CONSIGMENT BOX CODE NUMBERS
TO OPEN THEM.

NOTE: COMMUNICATION SHOULD BE STRICTLY THROUGH E-MAIL OR
PHONE FOR SECURITY REASONS.

YOURS FAITHFULLY,
MR STEPHEN ADAMS
stephenadams2011@hotmail.com

Anti-fraud resources: