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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: "john osagie" <johnosagie02@gmail.com>
Reply-To: johnosagie1@gmail.com
Date: Sun, 6 Jul 2008 09:57:33 -0700
Subject: IMMEDIATE REPLY NEEDED!!!


*MR JOHN OSAGIE,
DIRECTOR OF INVESTIGATION,
UNION BANK OF NIG.PLC,
MARINA-LAGOS,
NIGERIA.*

HELLO DEAR,

I AM SEEKING FOR YOUR CO-OPERATION TO PRESENT YOU TO MY BANk AS THE NEXT OF
KIN TO MR DAVID PETERSON, A FOREIGN CONTRACTOR WITH NIGERIAN NATIONAL
PETROLEUM COOPERATION (NNPC),SO THAT THE SUM OF USD$10.5MILLION WILL BE PAID
TO YOU AS THE BENEFICIARY. FOR YOUR INFORMATION, I AM THE DIRECTOR OF
INVESTIGATION DEPARTMENT WITH UNION BANK OF NIGERIA PLC.

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF UNION BANK OF NIG.PLC MANDATED ME TO LOOK FOR ANY
KNOWN RELATION OF MR DAVID PETERSON,SINCE, AFTER HIS DEATH 5/1/03. HOWEVER
ALL MY EFFORTS IN TRACES PROVED ABORTIVE,
THAT IS THE MAIN REASON I AM WRITING YOU THIS TO ASK FOR YOUR CO-OPEARATION
FOR US TO CLAIM THIS MONEY,SINCE YOU ARE A FOREIGNER.I ONLY HAVE TO APPROVE
YOU,AND THIS FUND WILL BE PAID TO YOU AS THE BENEFICIARY. WE ARE TO SHARE
THIS MONEY BETWEEN OURSELVES (I AND YOU) IF YOU ARE REALY INTERESTED IN THIS
OFFER YOU SHOULD CONTACT ME IMMEDIATELY.

FOR DETAILS OF THIS TRANSACTION AND PRECEDURE,PLEASE DO FORWARD TO ME THE
FOLLOWING INFORMATION:

*YOUR FULL NAME, CONTACT/RECEIVING ADDRESS, DIRECT PHONE AND FAX NUMBER,
IDENTITY, YOUR COMPANY NAME(IF ANY), YOUR AGE, MARITAL STATUS &
OCCUPATION.*

THESE INFO ARE VITAL TO THE SUCCESS OF THIS TRANSACTION FOR THE INFO WILL BE
USED TO PROCESS THE PAYMENT TRANSFER IN YOUR NAME & FAVOUR AS BENEFICIARY.
NOTE THAT THIS IS RISK-FREE BUSINESS. THIS TRANSACTION WILL COMMENCE
IMMEDIATELY THERE IS INTEREST FROM YOU.

YOURS TRUELY,
*MR JOHN OSAGIE.*


IMMEDIATE REPLY NEEDED!!!

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