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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: mariam abacha <palmbayestate@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2023 00:50:07 +1000
Subject: Proposal


--
Dear Sir/ Madam

I am Dr. (Mrs.) Mariam Abacha, wife of the last Nigerian Head of State,
General Sani Abacha who died on the 8th of June 1998 while still on active
duty am contacting you in view of the fact we will be of great assistance
to each other, likewise developing a cordial business relationship.

I currently have within my reach the sum of Twenty-Two Million United
States dollars ($22,000,000.00) which I intended to use for investment
purposes specifically in your country. This money came as a result of a
pay-back contract deal between my late husband and a Russian firm in our
country’s Multi-Billion Dollar Ajaokuta Steel Plant.

The Russian partner returned my late husband’s share of US $22,000,000.00
USD after his death, Right now, the new civilian government has intensified
their probe on my late husband’s financial resources. A lot of money has
been recovered by the government and has frozen our accounts. In view of
these facts, I acted fast to withdraw the US $22,000,000.00 USD from the
company’s vault and deposited it in a security safe in Ghana. No record
whatsoever exists concerning the money traceable by the government because
there is no documentation showing that we received the money from the
Russians.

Due to the current situation in the country concerning the Government's
attitude towards my family, it has become quite impossible for me to make
use of this money, thus upon your consent, I shall expect you to contact me
or my son Mohammed Abacha with the above EMAIL ADDRESS (mohadoba@yahoo.com)
urgently to enable us discuss in detail about this transaction.

Bearing in mind that your assistance is needed to claim this fund, I
propose a commission of 30% (Thirty percent) of the sum to you for the
expected service and assistance. Your response is highly needed so as to
stop further contact. All correspondence must be by this email address I
must use this opportunity to implore you to exercise the utmost indulgence
to keep this matter extra ordinarily confidential as I waits to hear from
you.

Best regards,

Dr Mariam Abacha

Anti-fraud resources: