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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: "Gerhad Associate" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <gehard@163.com>
Date: Sat, 9 Feb 2019 23:54:16 -0800
Subject: LET US ACHIEVE THIS TOGETHER

Good day,

I am Gerhard a legal practitioner from Germany, I got your contact after a detailed search for a person whom we can jointly claim an estate and also solicit a profitable partnership on investment for five Years.

Please let me know if you can partner with me to act as a maternal relative to my client who died intestate. My late client has a deposit of $14 Million with a bank here in Europe and left no clear beneficiary as Next of Kin due to childlessness except some vital documents related to the deposit that is still in my possession as his personal attorney.

Recently, the governing body of the bank contacted me on this matter, requesting that I should notify the next of kin to claim the funds and I am yet to provide any. I know my client had no living relative but I went ahead and made several inquiries to locate any of his extended relatives and this has proved unsuccessful.

Therefore, under a clear and legitimate agreement with you, I seek your consent to present you as the next of kin to claim this funds so that it will not be confiscated by the bank and this will be executed within the legal framework to make it 100% risk free.

The said fund will be transferred to you via the same bank and 40% of the fund is intended to be invested through your agency in the purchase of facility and assets, for business purposes in your Country. You will be entitled to 50% of the total fund for your role after claim.

There is no risk involved, all I required is your sincerity, co-operation and utmost good faith to enable us achieve this goal successfully and I guarantee this will be executed under a legal process that will protect you and I. We can both use this money to set up a better future for our family instead of been confiscated by the Bank.

If you are interested in my offer send me your full contact details (1) Full Names: (2) Mobile Number: (3) Fax Number: (4) Occupation/Job: (5) Address:

This project requires absolute confidentiality and professionalism in handling therefore, I will advice you do not disclose the content to anyone due to the nature.

I look forward to receiving your response soon.

Regards,

Gerhard

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