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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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Fraud email example:

From: Solomon Richard <srichard@katamail.com>
Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 14:56:55 -0000
Subject: Golden Opportunity

Dear Sir,

I am Solomon Richard, an attorney to Gerald Welsh who died in a plane crash in 1999.My client had an
account with a bank. The Bank discovered a dormant Domicilliary account containing millions of dollars
in the name of my client as the account holder. Please be informed that he died in an Egypt Air Flight
990 with his wife, which crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on October 31 1999 exactly 5yrs ago. His will
with me has his wife as the sole beneficiary of his estate.

EgyptAir Flight 990,1999 air crash(for more information about this crash and person you can click on the
link this website: http://www.s-t.com/daily/11-99/11-02-99/d08ho174.htm
His account application carried his wife name as the next of kin, but unfortunately, she also died in the
Air crash. I was contacted by the bank, as his attorney to search for a relative as next of kin who will lay
claims to his funds. Being a foreign gold merchant before his death, no one is aware of any relatives of
his. As the normal banking procedure, any funds that have been left unclaimed over a period of 6yrs will
automatically be forfeited to the Government, hence my reason in soliciting your assistance to work with
me in the claim of this fund.

I will appreciate your cooperation in this regard. I have the necessary information needed in order to claim
this money. I want to assure you that the transaction is without risk if due Process is followed (the
legalization of the claim).Please, Should this proposal interest you, you should send to me your phone
and fax number for more information on solomonrichard@katamail.com only.


I Look forward to hearing from you.

Regards
Solomonn Richard

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