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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:

Fraud email example:

From: "MS. GRACE OKEKE" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <msgraceokeke0@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 26 Aug 2017 12:33:46 -0700
Subject: GET BACK TO ME FOR YOUR FUND TRANSFER

My Dear,
 
I am Ms. Grace Okeke I work with central bank of Nigeria. I am 25
years old, just started work with CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA. I came
across your file which was marked X and your released disk painted
RED, I took time to study it and found out that you have paid
VIRTUALLY all fees and certificate but the fund has not been release
to you. The most annoying thing is that they cannot tell you the truth
that on no account will they ever release the fund to you, instead
they let you spend money unnecessarily.
 
I do not intend to work here all the days of my life, I can release
this fund to you if you can certify me of my security, and how I can
run away from Nigeria if I do this, because if I don't run away from
this country after i made the transfer, I will be seriously in
trouble and my life will be in danger. Please this is like a Mafia
setting in Nigeria, you may not understand it because you are not a
Nigeria. The only thing I will need to release this fund is a special
HARD Drive we call it HD120 GIG. I will buy two of it, recopy your
information, destroy the previous one, punch the computer to reflect
in your bank within 72 banking hours.
 
 
I will clean up the tracer and destroy your file, after which I will
run away from Nigeria to meet with you. If you are interested. Do get
in touch with me immediately,You should send to me your convenient
tell/fax numbers for easy communications and also re confirm your
banking details, so that there won't be any mistake.
 
Regards,
 
Ms.Grace Okeke

Anti-fraud resources: