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:
- "money gram" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "money.gram.officee@qq.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- "money.gram.officee@qq.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
MoneyGram money transfer is completely untraceable and therefore is *not* safe to use with anyone you do not know personally. Along with Western Union it is a preferred method of online criminals to collect money from their victims.
This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- +22968721040 (Benin, probably a prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: Mrs francanie brown <ricebeans19@yahoo.pt>
Reply-To: Mrs francanie brown <money.gram.officee@qq.com>
Date: Sat, 22 Nov 2014 07:50:28 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: The (IMF) Fund Compensation And Your Files Will Be Return Back
within 72

Â Read carefully,

The (IMF) International Monetary Fund IMF is compensating all the scam victims $2,700,000 million USD each,and your email address was found in the scam victim's list.This Money gram office has been mandated by the IMF to transfer your compensation to you via money gram Transfer.email (( money.gram.officee@qq.com ))

Note that your payment files will be returned to the IMF within 72 hours if we did not hear from you,this was the instruction given to us by the IMF,

Call Rev Tony Mike +22968721040 immediately you get this mail to enable him speed up your payment immediately to released $5000 Usd Reference to you and pick up the first payment.

Receiver name:-________
Address:-__________
Country:-____________
Phone number:-_____________

Your payment files will be returned to the IMF within 72 hours if we did not hear from you,this was the instruction given to us by the IMF email (( money.gram.officee@qq.comÂ ))

Thanks,
Mrs francanie brown

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam