419 Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam (2006-01)

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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:

An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear beneficiary," (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- wwwmills@post.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "ADMIN" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <wwwmills@post.com>
Date: Mon, 8 Jun 2015 02:06:24 -0700
Subject: ***SPAM***YOUR INTERCEPTED TRANSFERRED FUND (Credit Monitoring
Service (CMS),

Dear Beneficiary,

This is an official communication from united stated financial

monitoring services (Credit Monitoring Service (CMS), We have

intercepted the sum of eight million tree hundred and seventy thousand

British Pounds sterling which was been transferred into a business

account to south America.

In our preliminary investigation it was discovered that a United

Kingdom Standard bank plc united kingdom as Authorized inheritance in

your favor wit ref: no Our Ref: STB/UK/6004 ,Further investigation

revealed that top official of the bank has almost succeeded in diverting

your funds into an account in South America.

Note the account details stated below was the account you provided for

the transfer kindly indicate it's authenticity.

easybank

BLZ: 14200

Konto Nr. 20010150761 |

SWIFT / BIC: EASYATW1 |

IBAN: AT45 14200 20010150761

You are to furnish us with these details to enable us reconfirm and

advice you appropriately on how to redirect your funds.

Your name

Your address

Your age

Occupation

Direct phone lines

Regards

Lucas Randy

Director Monitor Unit

Phone: +16469181345 (USA) all reply should be sent to wwwmills@post.com

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam