419 Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam (YYYY-MM)

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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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
- "first national bank" (not involved with lotteries)
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "outstanding contractors" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "to your nominated bank account" (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)
- ",000,000" (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)
- "fund beneficiary" (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)
- "cotonou" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "mr.thomaswilliams@outlook.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.

Fraud email example:

From: =?utf-8?Q?=D0=9E=D0=BA=D1=81=D0=B0=D0=BD=D0=B0?=
<mohitdownunder@gmail.com>
Reply-To: o1474@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 10 Nov 2017 21:31:48 +0000
Subject: Read & reply this mail (not spam message)

IPLC TRUST BANK
IPLC BANK BUILDING 6TH FLOOR,
P.O. Box 267, Cotonou
BP 01, Benin Republic.

Our Ref: STB/IPLC/jBl/0zx/17

This is to alert you that we received your fund worth the sum $17,000,000 from the Bank of Benin Republic,we apologies for the delay of your payment and all the inconveniences it might cause you, Meanwhile we were having some minor problems with our payment system which in all case not meeting up with fund beneficiary payments, we apologies once again.From the records of outstanding contractors due for payment with federal Government your name was discovered as next on the list out of the 11 outstanding, contractors who have not yet received their payments during the 3 years tenure of the previous administration in office please bear with us for making this initial contact through email.Meanwhile, a woman came to this bank a few days ago with a letter claiming to be your true representative. Here is her informationâ€™s below.

Name: Mrs.Betty Kidman
Bank name: Citibank , Arizona , USA .
Account Number: 6503809008
Routing number: 322271627
Swift code#:WMSBUS66
Address: 1723 Palmdale Bulv
Palmdale ca.93550

Please do reconfirm to this bank as a matter of urgency if this woman is from you or not so that the federal government will not beheld First national Bank usa for paying into wrong account, if this woman is not your representative, you requested to fill and send this informationâ€™s for verification purpose so that your fund valued ($17,000,000) will be remitted in to your nominated bank account.Kindly reconfirm to the bank the following

1 Your Full Name:
2. Your Current Address:
3. Occupation.
4. Your telephone numbers and fax.
5. Banking details.
6. Age and Sex .
7. Scan copy of your valid ID card.

As soon as this information is received with valuation fee of $359 which will reconnecting you to the ready wire transfer online with Citibank after you pay this fee , your funds will be paid to you through our online banking system We shall proceed to issue all payments details to the said Mrs.Bety if we do not hear from you within the next three working days from today.We are sorry for any inconvenience the delay in transferring of your fund must have caused you.We knew you had paid in the pass but this time there is no other fee after this reconnection bill Act. Pay it and get your fund.

YOUR SWIFT RESPONSE IS HIGHLY NEEDED IN THIS RESPECT.

Best Regard,
Foreign Remittance Director.
Email me here also: mr.thomaswilliams@outlook.com

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam