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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: "James Williams" <jameswill1958@aol.com>
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:03:04 +0300
Subject: RE: TRANSFER OF $5.5 MILLION US DOLLARS INTO YOUR ACCOUNT.


FROM THE OFFICE OF MR JAMES WILLIAMS,
BILL AND EXCHANGE MANAGER,
NATWEST BANK PLC, LONDON UK,

RE: TRANSFER OF $5.5 MILLION US DOLLARS INTO YOUR ACCOUNT.

I am MR JAMES WILLIAMS, bill and exchange manager, NATWEST BANK PLC,
LONDON UK. I need your assistance in transferring the sum of ($5.5)
million into your account within (SIX) 6 to (NINE) 9 banking days.

This account belongs to one of our foreign customer by name Dr George
Brumely who died along with his entire family in a plane crash some
years ago. You can view his website for more details:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/africa/07/20/kenya.crash/index.html

I agree that 30% of this money will be for you in respect of the
provision of a foreign account, and 70% would be for me. Thereafter, I
will visit your country for disbursement immediately we conclude the
transaction according to the percentage indicated above. Reply me if
interested and ignore if you are not interested.

Finally, I am relying on your trust, honesty, and accountability to
conclude this process.

Please fill in your personal information as indicated below.

Full Name....................................

Address......................................

Company Name.................................

Age..........................................

Telephone/Fax................................

Occupation...................................

Sex..........................................

Bank Details.................................


Best Regards,


James Williams
Bill and Exchange Manager
Natwest Bank Plc






Anti-fraud resources: