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 sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
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.
- secretarygro@aol.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: "Conference Invitation " <iahrsecretary@aim.com>
Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 00:23:58 +0100 (CET)
Subject: International Conference Call, March 9th to 13th, 2015 California
USA

Dear Sir/Madam
Warm greetings from International Association for Human Rights! We are
organizing one week conference meeting on "Global Security and Human
Rights" from March 9th to 13th, 2015 @ San Francisco Conference Center,
California CA USA. We take the pleasure of inviting you and your
colleagues to the conference meeting. The conference meeting will contain
various talks and mini workshops related to the issues of Human Rights and
Global Security in our society.

The sponsors of the event will cover the cost of your round-trip airfare
on a direct flight at the most economical fare. We will provide for your
visa arrangement, and your ground transportation from the airport to the
conference venue. Hotel accommodation costs will be your own
responsibility. Please contact the conference secretariat office for more
information and registration for participation: [secretarygro@aol.com],
Looking forward to your honorable presence,

Thanks and Regards
Dr. Gloria Chung
Program Assistant

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam