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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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "Filipo Federico" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <filipo.federico@usspacemail.com>
Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2009 02:06:50 -0000
Subject: URGENT!!!

Attn:,

Being that we have had no prior contacts before now, I am quite aware that this email will come to you as a surprise. However, I urge you to take a few minutes to read through this rather lengthy and unsolicited email and then communicate your decision to me. By way of introduction, my name is Filipo Federico, I am originally African-Italian but naturalized in Britain.

Project Background:

I work for a firm that was part of the team that built and completed Heathrow airport's terminal 5 and we were involved in the excavation of the project site as well as the diversion of the Twin Rivers. During the course of the excavation, we discovered several artifacts dating back several hundred years. Some of this artifacts, we handed over to the British Government, the rest we sold in the black market.The artifacts were sold for 42.5 Million Pounds and payment was made in Gold bullions. This in itself is not a problem, the problem is that given our involvement with Government contracts, our firm is, like other such firms, liable to Governmental oversight and public scrutiny. For this reason, we cannot be seen to have become suddenly affluent or living above our current means without proper cause or justification. This has, therefore created a situation for us where we have this money but cannot spend it. The bullions in question are currently held in deposit boxes with a bank here in London, as is the n

The Plan:

We wish to have a neutral person, preferably a foreigner, to liquidate the bullion and the proceeds deposited in a regular bank account in the name of the foreigner for further transfer out of the country. Once that is done, we would want our share of the funds to be invested and we can then live on the proceeds of the investment for a period of 5 years while we build a cover to enable us pull back the bulk for whatever purpose we deem fit at the time without cause for worry.

To this end, we will get proper documentation showing that the bullions were a part of the estate that you inherited. We will have documentation to show that at some point, some relative of yours left you the bullions and you will have the documentation (supplied by us of course) to prove this. That way, nobody will ask any questions and the deal will sail through. We are willing to give you 30% of the proceeds and a further 10% as commission for every proceed coming from the invested funds within the 5 year period. You must understand that the way this has been planned, there is no chance of failure and no chance of this ever being found out, therefore, there is no risk involved in this for you or for us. Should you wish to partake of this deal, kindly call me on +447624103488 or you may fax me on +448704955269.

With very kind regards,
Filipo Federico

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