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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: "Engr.Sambo Abubakar" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <sambo.abubakar@voila.fr>
Date: Tue, 7 Feb 2012 04:58:53 -0500
Subject: From Engr.Sambo Abubakar,

>From Engr.Sambo Abubakar I Am Engr.Sambo Abubakar senior staff with the central bank of Nigeria (CBN). I am writing you this letter because cool penny is better than millions of dollars. It is better for one to live and die a poor honest man than a rich dishonest one. I have arranged with an officer in the computer section of this bank,Mrs Red Matt to bring out part of your total contract sum amounting to $5million us dollars. Why we did this, is because according to information gathered from the banks computer, you have been waiting for a long time to receive your money without success, as I found out that you have almost met all the statutory requirements of the CBN in respect of your contract payment, your problem is that of interest groups. I am willing to help you get your money but please for security reasons do not tell anybody that you have your money until you receive cash at your doorstep. This is something we want to avoid because the boxes were padded with machine. We told the courier service that the boxes contains photographic and film materials and when opened will loose its efficacy. We did not declare money because courier service does not carry money. In your subsequence response I shall send you the details of the courier company which will be in charge of the delivery to your location, we have concluded that you must compensate us with $500,000 United States dollars as soon as you receive your money. To this effect, you will send us a promissory note for $500,000 United States dollars along with your address for sending the boxes by courier. Please maintain topmost secrecy as it may cause a lot of problems if found out that we are using this way to help you, do not ever tell anybody about this until you have your money. You are required to re-confirm the under listed details as soon as possible for onward shipment of your over due contract fund: Your full name: Private telephone number: Choice of address {where you wish the consignment delivered}: God is with us as we wait for your reply. Yours faithfully, Engr.Sambo Abubakar Direct tel.no:+234-8027130191

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