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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: johnmbeki_esq@tiscali.co.uk
Date: Tue, 1 Mar 2005 13:21:47 +0100
Subject: CONTACT US




Mbeki and Mbeki Law Firm,
17th floor, 55 marshal street,
Johannesburg,2001,
South Africa.

RE: ATTENTION,

Your e-mail address came up in a random draw conducted by our law firm, Mbeki
and Mbeki Law Firm in
Johannesburg, South Africa. My name is John R.Mbeki esq. A personal attorney
to our late client Mr. James Harrison who worked for a South African Mining
Corporation . Mr. James Harrison a well known Philanthropist, before he died,
made a Will stating that $3.2M (one million U.S. dollars only) should be
donated to any Philanthropist of our choice overseas. We have made a random
draw of email addresses and your e-mail address was picked as the beneficiary
to this Will.
I am particularly interested in securing this money from the Bank, because
they have issued a notice
instructing us to produce the beneficiary of this Will within two weeks or
else the money will be credited to the Government treasury as per law here.

It is my utmost desire to execute the Will of our late client. You are required
to contact me immediately to
start the process of sending this money to any of your designated official
account. I urge you to contact me
immediately for further details bearing in mind that the Bank has given us
a date limit. Please act fast. Contact me on my pravite email address(johnmbeki@lawyer.com)

Regards,
John R. Mbeki(Esq).






___________________________________________________________

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Anti-fraud resources: