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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: "Mrs.Elisabeth Hoffmann" <dajoe731731@gmail.com>
Reply-To: elisabethh030@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2023 14:33:57 +0100
Subject: Dearly Loved

Dearly Loved

I bring peace and love to you from God and our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by
the grace of God that I received Christ, having known the truth, I had no
choice but to do what is lawful and right in the sight of God for eternal
life and in the sight of man for witness of God's mercy and glory upon my
life, I know this letter will come to you as a surprise and you are
probably wondering how I got your email address. Please don't worry so
much, I found your email address on the world yellow page directory and
after prayerful and deep consideration I was inspired to write you this
mail, as my only desire is to find a person of integrity and the right
capacity who can diligently handle this project. so I crave your indulgence
to take your time and read it carefully as I write this message from my
sickbed. My name is Ms. Elisabeth Hoffmann B. I am a 63-year-old
Swiss-American widow, I am a very religious Christian, struggling with
cancer, which is in a very critical phase now, and the medical experts
informed me

I inherited money from my late husband Mr. Hoffmann, Unfortunately, my only
surviving brother who should have been my next of kin recently died as a
result of complications arising from being afflicted by the coronavirus
(COVID19). That's why I was left with no option but to take my chance and
reach out to you. I need you to use this money to start up a charity
organization on my behalf. I don't want to donate this money to already
established charity organizations because most of them have proven to
enrich themselves instead of doing the actual charity for which they
receive donations.

I want to assure you that this is not stolen money, it's clean money and
free of any kind of illegality, there is no risk or danger in the process.
There will be a proper transfer of ownership that will be handled by my
lawyer. You take 30% of this money for your personal use then you use 70%
for the charity foundation.

Your quick response is much appreciated so that I can give you more
detailed information.

Thank You!
Mrs.Elisabeth Hoffmann

Anti-fraud resources: