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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: Thomas Fahey <alfredlarsen0000@gmail.com>
Reply-To: thomas.fahey60@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2022 10:05:22 -0400
Subject: A Beneficial Proposal to both of us

--
Greetings,

I'm Thomas Fahey, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of a reputable financial
institution. I humbly request that you keep the contents of this mail
confidential and respect the integrity of the information you come across
as a result of this proposal which concerns my late client.

My proposal for you concerns an abandoned huge sum of money with my bank. I
have on my desk, files and documents of a deceased client (Timothy
Alarcon), a crude oil merchant who was residing in Ontario; passed away due
to a cardiopulmonary arrest in 2019 leaving no Next of Kin. Since His
demise, no one has made any claims and the board of directors has adopted a
resolution giving me the mandate to provide his next of kin for the
release/transfer of the funds or it will be declared as unclaimed and
forfeited. The institution plans to invoke the abandoned property decree to
confiscate the funds. I have made a decision of presenting you to the board
as a family member and legal beneficiary to HIS estate since you are both
foreign nationals.

Please note that this application will be done in accordance with the laws
with recourse to proper legal bank administrative channels. I have all the
vital info and documents that would make you the beneficiary before the
fund is declared UN-serviceable and confiscated. Please bear in mind that
if we do not act now, the funds will be confiscated and shared by corrupt
and rapacious government officials. So, we have to act fast as time is of
the essence. The worst possible repercussion if this fails to succeed is
having the proposed application disapproved by the bank and that is it, the
bank won't come after you. Nothing to lose but I can only assure you that
we will succeed.

I sent you this mail with 100% confidence that this transaction is legal,
risk-free, and feasible. Nonetheless, remember to keep the details of this
proposal confidential because I have contacted you directly without
informing anyone of this communication.

Best Regards,
Thomas Fahey
Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

Anti-fraud resources: