419 Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam (2006-01)

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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:
- ",500,000" (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)
- "top secret" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: YONG WONG <herbert@jerich.com>
Reply-To: <yongwong@mail.mn>
Date: Sat, 13 Apr 2013 05:29:12 -0700
Subject: =?utf-8?Q?***Spam***?=
REPLY IF YOU ARE INTERESTED ONLY

Please I would like you to keep this proposal as a top secret and delete it if you are not interested and
get back to me if you are interested for details as regards to the transfer of $24,500,000 to you.
This money initially belongs to a Libyan client who died in the libya crisis and had no next of kin in his
account-opening package in my bank here in Hong kong where I am a bank director.
In other to achieve this, I shall require your full name, and telephone number to reach you.
Most importantly, a confirmation of acceptance from you will be needed after which I shall furnish you with
the full details of this transaction.
Yours Truly,
Wong Yong

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam