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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: Pavlenko Sergeevich <pavlenkoserg98@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 2021 02:05:37 -0700
Subject: Good Day,


--
Good Day,

Before I introduce myself, I wish to inform you that this letter is not a
hoax and I urge you to treat it very seriously.

My name is Barr. Pavlenko Sergeevich, I'm a RUSSIAN and MEXICAN national
and personal Attorney. My purpose of contacting you is because you bear the
same last name as one of my clients who unfortunately passed away in May
2020 as a result of COVID-19 here in Mexico. Also I’m reaching out for your
help to secure some amount of funds in BITCOIN left behind by my late
client to avoid it from being confiscated by the Crypto Currency Company
responsible. This BITCOIN is valued at $US 5,500,000.00 (Five Million, Five
Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) deposited by my client before he
passed away.

The Crypto currency company has issued me a notice to contact the next of
kin or the account will be declared unserviceable and the fund diverted to
a treasury, so far all my efforts to get a hold of someone related to my
client has proved futile. I am actually asking for your consent to present
you to them as the Next of Kin/beneficiary of my late client's fund, since
you bear the same last name, so that the proceeds of his account can be
paid to you, then we can share the fund on a mutual agreement based on
percentage.

All I require is your honest cooperation to enable us to achieve this goal.
This transaction will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will
protect you from any infraction of the law. However, if this business
proposition offends your moral ethics, do accept my sincere apology. If on
the contrary you wish to achieve this goal with me, kindly get back to me
on this my email:

Kindest Regards,
Barrister Pavlenko Sergeevich.

Anti-fraud resources: