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:

An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
This email message is a "New Partner from Paraguay" scam.
This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- mikejonass@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr. Edward Kong" <esdp-1@mongol.net>
Reply-To: <mikejonass@hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 13:58:24 +0200
Subject: CONTACT MR.MIKE JONAS FOR YOUR COMPENSATION OF $850.000
=?UTF-8?Q?DOLLARS=E2=80=8F?=

DEAR FRIEND,

CONTACT MR.MIKE JONAS,ON HIS E-MAIL NOW FUNDS (mikejonass@hotmail.com),
I AM VERY HAPPY TO INFORM YOU ABOUT MY SUCCESS IN GETTING THAT FUND
TRANSFERRED.

NOW I WANT YOU TO CONTACT MY SECRETARY ON THE INFORMATION BELOW AND
RECEIVE YOUR COMPENSATION OF $850.000 US DOLLARS FROM HIM:
HIS NAME,MR.MIKE JONAS, EMAIL: (mikejonass@hotmail.com).

SEND HIM THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION TO PROVE YOU TO HIM:

YOUR FULL NAME;...............................
YOUR ADDRESS:.................................
YOUR COUNTRY:.................................
YOUR AGE:.........................................
YOUR OCCUPATION:.................................
YOUR PHONE NUMBER.................................
YOUâ€™RE ID ORV DRIVER LICENSE...................

NOTE THAT IF YOU DID NOT SEND HIM THE ABOVE INFORMATION COMPLETE, HE
WILL NOT RELEASE THE ATM CARD TO YOU BECAUSE HE HAS TO BE SURE THAT
IT IS YOU.

ASK HIM TO SEND YOU THE TOTAL SUM OF $850.000 US DOLLARS ATM DEBIT
CARD,WHICH I KEPT FOR YOU.NOTE ALSO THAT I WILL NOT BE REACHED BY EMAIL
OR PHONE FOR NOW BECAUSE I AM CURRENTLY AWAY FOR INVESTMENT PURPOSE WITH
MY SHARE AND I WILL BE BUSY TILL ABOUT SIX MONTHS TIME OR A YEAR. NAME:
MR.MIKE JONAS, EMAIL :(mikejonass@hotmail.com).

REGARDS,
DR,EDWARD KONG
MINISTER OF FINANCE (RETIRED).

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam