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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: "Mr. Graham Steele" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <smnu433@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2023 05:10:36 -0800
Subject: Re: PAYMENT APPROVED NOTIFICATION

U.S Department of the Treasury
Address: #1500 Pennsylvania Avenue,
NW  Washington,
D.C. 20220,
USA.
 
 
Attn Beneficiary,
 
                            
                                            RE: YOUR FUND RELEASE NOTIFICATION.
 
 
I am Mr. Graham Steele, the U.S Department of the Treasury Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions, and the Chairman, Unclaimed Fund Release committee set up by United Sates Government through this department to disburse/release all the unclaimed funds stopped by some agencies of the United States Government due to one reason or the other to the supposed beneficiaries from every countries of the world. After going through some payment files, I discovered that you have not received your payment because of some corrupt officials who intend to divert your funds to their own account for their selfish interest. After careful verification on your payment file, it was gathered that you abandoned this fund because of the incessant fees/levies being requested from you.
 
Be informed that after due consultation on your behalf regarding the immediate release the fund amounting to Five Million Six Hundred Thousand United States Dollars($5.6M). It will interest you to note that I have successfully secured an Approval in your favor and the fund has been arranged for immediate release/transfer into your bank account through our assigned paying bank.
 
You are hereby advise to reconfirm the information stated below in this notification for further advice:
 
Your Full Name....................
Current Residential Address.......
Direct Phone Number...............
Age / Sex / Occupation............
Scan Copy of Your ID..............
 
I shall wait to hear from you with the above mentioned information to enable us expedite action and have your approved unclaimed fund released to you within official 7 working days.
 
Your urgent response is highly anticipated.
 
Thanks.
 
Yours Sincerely,
Mr. Graham Steele.
Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions.
Chairman,
Unclaimed Fund Release Committee.

Anti-fraud resources: