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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.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "olu badmus" <olubadmus101@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: olubadmus@sify.com
Date: Mon, 03 Oct 2005 12:49:37 +0000
Subject: TRANSFER OF MONEY

FROM:
ENGR. TUNDE MARCUS.

RE: FOREIGN RECEIVERSHIP/BENEFICIARY

DEAR FRIEND:

MY PARTNERS AND I ARE ACTIVE MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS OF
THE NIGERIAN NATIONAL PETROLUEM CORPORATION.

WE WOULD LIKE TO EMPLOY YOUR EFFORTS TO ACT AS THE
RECEIVER/BENEFICIARY OF A CONTRACT SUM WORTH $34M. THE
MONEY LEGALLY BELONGS TO US; BEING PROCEEDS FROM
CONTRACT DEALS SECRETLY EXECUTED ON OUR BEHALF OVER
THE YEARS.

OUR MASTERPLAN IS TO MAKE YOU THE CHIEF BENEFICIARY OF
THIS FUND BY WAY OF ADVANCING YOU AS A CONTRACTOR TO
WHOM THE CORPORATION IS INDEBTED, [TO THE TUNE OF
$34M.

THE BLUEPRINT IS 100 % TESTED AND WORKABLE TO THE
LETTER.

YOU WILL ONLY NEED TO BE IN CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE
APEX BANK [VIA TELEPHONE, E-MAIL, & FAX] UNTIL THE
MONEY IS REMITTED INTO ANY BANK ACCOUNT NORMINATED BY
YOU.

WE HAVE AGREED TO OFFER YOU 5% ($1.7M) FOR YOUR KIND
ASSISTANCE.

PLEASE GET BACK TO US FOR FULL DETAILS.

YOURS FAITHFULLY,

ENGR. TUNDE MARCUS.


Anti-fraud resources: