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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.

 

 

Fraud email example:

From: "T.Ahmed Datti" <tahmeddatti@yahoo.co.in> (may be fake)
Reply-To: tahmeddatti@myself.com
Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2004 22:07:55 -0800
Subject: Sincere Partner?

SIR,
PLEASE REFER YOUR ACCEPTANCE MAIL FOR QUICK ATTENTION
ON THIS ADDRESS:
tahmeddatti@myself.com
MY NAME IS MR. T, AHMED DATTI. I WORK WITH THE INLAND
BANK OF NIGERIA
PLC AS A GROUP HEAD TREASURY DEPARTMENT.
IN THE DISCHARGE OF MY DUTY, I STUMBLED ON THIS
DOMICILIARY ACCOUNT
THAT HAS REMAINED DORMANT FOR SIX MONTHS NOW WITH TEN
MILLION, FIVE
HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS ($10.5M) IN IT.
ON PERSONAL
INVESTIGATION, I DISCOVERED THAT THE ACCOUNT HOLDER
DIED IN AUTOCRASH ACCIDENT
WITH THE MEMBERS OF HIS FAMILY WHO SHOULD BE THE NEXT
OF KIN TO THE
AMOUNT.

I AM WRITING YOU SO THAT WE CAN WORK TOGETHER TO REMIT
THIS AMOUNT OF
MONEY INTO YOUR ACCOUNT AS THE NEXT OF KIN HENCE THE
DEPOSITOR HAPPENED
TO BE A FOREIGNER.

IT IS SIMPLE PROCESS WHICH WILL TAKE A SHORT WHILE TO
PROCESS. OUTSIDE
THIS, THE BANK MANAGEMENT WILL RETURN SAME AS CURRENT
ASSET OR
CONFISCATE THIS AMOUNT OF MONEY AS UNCLEARED EFFECTS
AND SEND BACK TO THE
NIGERIAN DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION ACCOUNT.
IF I HEAR FROM YOU, I WILL TELL YOU ALL YOU NEED TO
KNOW ABOUT THE
MONEY AND THE OPERATIONAL METHOD WE CAN USE TO EFFECT
THE REMITANCE INTO
YOUR ACCOUNT FOR OUR MUTUAL BENEFIT.
BEST REGARDS,
T, AHMED DATTI


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