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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: "William Johnston" <shsgsg@aol.com>
Reply-To: goodmailer4you@yahoo.co.jp
Date: Mon, 6 Jan 2014 09:42:18 -0000
Subject: I NEED YOUR PARTNERSHIP!!!

Dear Friend,

I am William Johnston, a legal practitioner based in United Kingdom, I
feel quite safe dealing with you in this business proposition, although
this medium (Internet) has been greatly abused, I chose to reach you
through it because it still remains the fastest, surest and most secured
medium of communication. Be informed that this letter is not a hoax or
Scam mail and I urge you to treat it with the seriousness it deserves.

I am the personal attorney to Mark Kaynak, an American who was a
consultant with Shell UK LTD here in London, who shall be referred to as
my client. Unfortunately my client lost his life on Boeing Egypt Air
Flight 990, which crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on October 31st, 1999
(news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/502503.stm) and left no clear
beneficiary as Next of Kin except some vital documents related to the
deposit still with me. All efforts by me to trace his Next of Kin proved
abortive because he did not make any will prior to his death.

Since then I have made several inquiries to locate any of my late clients
extended relatives and this has proved unsuccessful. After my several
unsuccessful attempts to locate any member of his family hence I contacted
you. I am contacting you to assist in claiming the money left behind by my
client before they get confiscated or declared unclaimed by the security
company where this huge deposit was deposited. Particularly, the finance
company where the deceased had the said fund valued at GPB9.8 million
Great Britain Pounds has issued me a notice to provide the next of kin.

Consequent upon this, my idea is that we can have a deal/agreement and I
am going to do this legally with your name as the bonafide beneficiary of
the amount in question as I have all legal document to back our claim. I
seek your consent to present you as the next of kin to the deceased so
that the proceeds of this account valued at GBP9.8 Million Great Britain
Pounds can be paid to your account abroad, note that 40% of this money
will be for you, in respect to the provision of a foreign account and 50%
for me ,10% will be used for the reimbursement of any expenditure we may
incur in the cause of the transaction

I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that
will protect you from any breach of the law all I need from you is your
utmost collaboration and sincerity for us to thrive in this deal. Please
kindly get back to me through my email address or personal phone number
for confidentiality and send to me your telephone and fax numbers to
enable us discuss further on this transaction.

Thanks as I wait for your Honest reply.


Kind regards,

William Johnston


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