419 scam: "Economic And Financial Crimes Commission"<efcccarecenter@yahoo.cn> Did you approve this claim to Mrs. Sarah McDaniel.

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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:
- "economic and financial crimes commission" (This name is often mentioned in money recovery scams (re-scam): the real EFCC does not contact victims to offer to get their money back because that is near impossible. )
- "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- "nigeria national petroleum corporation" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "lagos" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "certified bank draft" (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.

Fraud email example:

From: "Economic And Financial Crimes Commission" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <barr_williams_saraki@mail.kz>
Date: Sat, 16 Jun 2012 15:11:16 +0300
Subject: Did you approve this claim to Mrs. Sarah McDaniel.

Economic And Financial Crimes Commission
No. 15A, Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos,
Nigeria.

Attention!! Attention!!

This is to bring to your notice that our office in collaboration with the US Department of States on the fight on scam, fraud and terrorism, we have carried an investigation that proof you as the true beneficiary of $2.5millionusd being a willed inheritance contract payment from late Mr. Mark Wilson who was a contractor with the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporations (NNPC) and in our investigation you are his next of kin and beneficiary of the said payment but we are having a counter claim from one Mrs. Sarah McDaniel from New York City of United States of America who is claiming you are incapacitated due to a fatal accident that has permanently disfigured you and on your sick bed you have authorized her to make this claim to herself and as a proof and for our perusal, she has directed us to visit the site below which shows series of accident cars where you are involved in one of them.

Please see the website and confirm if you are actually involved in any of the accident cars.

Website: http://www.car-accidents.com/pages/car_accident_photo.html

But if you are not involved in any of these accident cars then confirm immediately as we have already giving mandate and authorization of payment to our accredited lawyer (Barrister Williams Saraki) who is to pay anybody as may be presented to him, so contact him with the email address below and he advice further on how you will receive the payment which is a signed certified bank draft on your name.

Contact person: Barrister Williams Saraki.
Email: barr_williams_saraki@mail.kz

Again and as anticipated, urgently contact the lawyer with a confirmation of your contact details as stated below.

Your full name:
Residential/contact address:
Nationality:
Direct phone no:

Yours faithfully,

Femi Babafemi
(EFCC spokesman)

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam