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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: "Kelvin williams" <kelvin_williams70@msn.com>
Date: Tue, 02 Aug 2005 13:09:07 +0000
Subject: YOUR SWIFT RESPONSE


NAME:DR.Kelvin Williams
PACKAGING AND COURIER
DEPARTMENT IN THE CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA,
NIGERIA.

ATTEN:



IT IS MY DELIGHT TO HAVE SENT YOU THIS LETTER AND I PRESUME
THAT IT WILL COME TO YOU AS A SURPRISE. I AM DR.KELVIN WILLIAMS,
I HEAD THE PACKAGING AND COURIER DEPARTMENT IN THE CENTRAL
BANK OF NIGERIA, NIGERIA.

I GOT YOUR CONTACT IN MY SEARCH IN ONE OF THE INTERNATIONAL
DIRECTORY MAGAZINE, FOR AN HONEST PERSON THROUGH MY COLLEAGUE
HERE IN THE CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA. WHO SAID TO ME THAT I CAN
CONFIDE IN YOU . I AM SEARCHING FOR A REALIABLE PERSON WHO CAN
HELP ME AND CLEAR THIS PACKAGE THAT IS ALREADY IN ASAIN WHICH
I SHIPPED THROUGH OUR CBN ACCREDITED COURIER AGENT.BUT THE
COURIER COMPANY DOES NOT KNOW THAT IT WAS MONEY THAT I HAVE
IN THE PACKAGE . IF YOU CAN RENDER ANY FORM OF ASSISTANCE,
ALL I NEED IS:

YOUR FULL NAME,

YOUR MAILING ADDRESS ,

YOUR PRIVATE PHONE,

FAX.

AND I SHALL PROVIDE TO YOU THE TRACKING NUMBER OF THE COURIER
COMPANY IMMEDIATELY. AND I HOPE THAT AT THE END OF THE DAY,
YOU WILL HAVE 30% AND 70% WILL BE FOR ME. MY IDENTITY MUST
NOT BE REVEALED TO ANYBODY . IF YOU ARE WILLING TO HELP ME
IN RECEIVING THE PACKAGE, YOU CAN E_MAIL ME ON MY PRIVATE
EMAIL: kelvin30williams@yahoo.ca. OTHER MODALITIES WILL BE
DISCUSSED AS SOON AS YOU GET BACK TO ME.

I ANTICIPATE YOUR SWIFT RESPONSE

YOURS FAITHFULLY,

DR.Kelvin Williams



Anti-fraud resources: