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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: "MRWILLIAMS MENSAH" <williams11@walla.com> (may be fake)
Date: Fri, 26 Aug 2005 18:50:59 +0100
Subject: APPEAL FOR MUTUAL ASSISTANT.

DEAR PLEASE,

I AM MR WILLIAMS MENSAH, THE CO-COORDINATOR OF CONTRACT AWARDING
COMMITTEE (C.A.C ) OF GOVERNMENT, IN REPUBLIC OF GHANA , SOMETIME
AGO, A CONTRACT WAS AWARDED TO A COMPANY BY MY COMMITTEE ON BEHALF
OF GOVERNMENT,THE CONTRACT WAS OVER INVOICED TO THE TUNE OF A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF MONEY BY SOME MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE.

THIS (OVER INVOICED)WAS DONE DELIBERATELY, THE OVER INVOICING WAS A DEAL IS THE ONLY WAY SOME MEMBERS OF MY COMMITTEE CAN BENEFIT FROM THE CONTRACT PROJECT. I PURPOSELY OVER INVOICED ANOTHER CONTRACT SUPPLY WITH TURN OF THREE MILLION DOLLARS ($3M) I DID THIS ONE WITHOUT THE CONCEPT OR KNOWLEDGE OF ANY MENBER HERE.

I HAVE DEPOSITED THIS MONEY TO ESCROW ACCOUNT (WITHOUT A NAME).NOW IS MY DESIRE FOR TO RECEIVED THIS MONEY WHICH IS PRESENTLY IN A ESCROW ACCOUNT INTO AN OVERSEAS ACCOUNT.

I WOULD REQUIRE:
YOUR NAME,PHONE AND ADDRESS AS BENEFICIARY AND INFORMATION (THAT YOU HAVE 100% CONTROL OVER)OVER THE MONEY IN ACCOUNT.THE ABOVE INFORMATION WOULD BE USED TO WRITE FORMAL APPLICATIONS LETTER AS A MATTER OF PROCEDURE FOR THE RELEASE OF THE MONEY FOR ONWARD TRANSFER TO YOUR ACCOUNT.

BENEFITS:
FOR PROVIDING THE ACCOUNT WHERE THE MONEY SHALL BE REMIT, YOU WILL BE
ENTITLED TO HAVE $800,000.00 UNITED STATE DOLLARS OF THE MONEY AS YOUR
BENEFIT,AFTER YOU HAVE CONFIRMED THE ARRIVAL IN YOUR BANK ACCOUNT,THE
REMAINING ONE WILL BE FOR ME AND MY FAMILY AS I HAVE DECIDED TO RESIGNED
FROM PUBLIC SERVICE,WHILE $50,000.00 HAS BEEN MAPPED OUT FROM THE TOTAL
SUM TO COVER TAXATION IN YOUR COUNTRY (IF ANY), OPENING OF THE ACCOUNT AND CALLS (IF ANY) PLEASE RECORD ALL.

THEREFORE, WHEN THE BUSINESS IS SUCCESSFULLY CONCLUDED, I SHALL THROUGH THE SAME CONNECTIONS TENDER MY RESIGNATION AND COME OVER IMMEDIATELY TO MEET YOU AND JOIN A FULL TIME BUSINESS.PLEASE THIS MONEY IS THE ONLY HOPE I HAVE, NOTE THAT AM STILL IN PUBLIC SERVICE, WE ARE NOT ALLOW TO OPERATE ON FOREIGN ACCOUNT.

PLEASE EXPRESS YOUR READINESS WITH ME BEFORE I WILL GIVE YOU THE BANK CONTACT ADDRESS,ACCOUNT NAME AND NUMBER WHERE THE MONEY WAS DEPOSITED.SO THAT YOU CONTACT THEM FOR THE RELEASE OF THIS FUND.

I WILL SEND YOU MY PHONE NUMBER,RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS,A COPY OF MY INTERNATIONAL PASSPORT AND OTHER PERSONAL DATA ON YOUR REQUEST.
FOR MORE DETAILS,CALL ON;-00-233-244-139-896 MR WILLIAMS
OR SEND ME EMAIL.ON williams11@walla.com

I AWAIT IN ANTICIPATION FOR YOUR COOPERATION.
YOURS FAITHFULLY,
MR WILLIAMS MENSAH


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