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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: "grace karimu" <grace_karimu100@hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 05 Oct 2005 12:15:43 +0000
Subject: CONGRATULATION

Date: 27/09/2005
Ref: 7458222754
Batch: 905534213/255
Winning no: XB3/701/LNRC
CONGRATULATIONS !

Dear Lucky winner

We are delighted to inform you of your prize release on the 30tht of july
2005 from the Australian
International Lottery programme. Which is fully based on an electronic
selection of winners using their
Your name was attached to ticket number; 7458222754, 905534213 serial number
6741137002
This batch draws the lucky numbers as follows 2-17-43-47-52bonus number
17,which consequently won the lottery in the second category.
You here by have been approved a lump sum pay of US$200,000.00 (TWO HUNDRED
THOUSAND DOLLARS) in cash credit file ref: ILP/MW 47509/02 from the total
cash prize shared amongst eight lucky winners in this category.

All participant were selected through a computer balloting system drawn from
Nine hundred thousand E-mail addresses from Canada, Australia, United
States, Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Oceania as part of our
international promotions program which is conducted annually. This Lottery
was promoted and sponsored by a conglomorate of some multinational companies
as part of their social responsibility to the citizens in the commmunities
where they have operational base. Further more your details(e-mail address)
falls within our African representative office in Nigeria, as indicated in
your play coupon and your prize of US$200,000.00 will be released to you
from this regional branch office in NIGERIA.Simply contact our Financial
Agent BARR MAKINZE IBRAHIM with this email address
barrmakinze_ibrahim2007@yahoo.co.in, We hope with part of your prize, you
will participate in our end of year high stakes for US$1.3 Billion
international draw. Please quote your Date of draw,reference, batch and
winning numbers which can be found on the top left corner of this and
telephone number to help locate your file easily. For security reasons, we
advice all winners to keep this information
confidential from the public until your claim is processed and your prize
released to you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double
claiming and unwarranted taking advantage of this programme by
non-participant or unofficial personnel.

Note, all winnings MUST be claimed on or before 18th of october, 2005;
otherwise all funds will be
returned as Unclaimed and eventually donated to charity Congratulations once
again on your winnings!!!
Best Regards,
MrsGrace Karimu
(For Public Relations).


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