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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: "MR. FARIO MUSA" <fariomusa12@hotmail.com> (may be fake)
Reply-To: fariomusa@zwallet.com
Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2005 18:28:21 +0100
Subject:

VERY CONFIDENTIAL
FROM: MR. FARIO MUSA ATTN:
DEAR
I AM THE MANAGER OF BILLS AND EXCHANGE AT THE FOREIGN
REMITTANCE DEPARTMENT OF THE ECOBANK SPAIN PLC. I AM
WRITING THIS LETTER TO ASK FOR SUPPORT AND CO-OPERATION
TO CARRY OUT THIS BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY IN MY
DEPARTMENT. WE DISCOVER AN ABANDONED SUM OF
US$30,000,000.00 (THIRTY MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS
o nLY) IN AN ACCOUNT THAT BELONGS TO ONE OF OUR FOREIGN
CUSTOMER WHO DIED ALONG WITH HIS ENTIRE FAMILY IN
NOVEMBER 2002 IN A PLANE CRASH. SINCE WE GOT
INFORMATION ABOUT HIS DEATH WE HAVE BEEN EXPECTIN G HIS
NEXT OF KIN TO COME OVER AND CLAIM HIS MONEY BECAUSE WE
CANNOT RELEASE THE MONEY UNLESS SOMEBODY APPLIES FOR IT
AS THE NEXT OF KIN OR RELATION TO THE DECEASED AS
INDICATED IN OUR BANKING GUIDELINES. UNFORTUNATELY,
NEITHER THE FAMILY MEMBER NOR THE RELATION HAS APPEARED
TO CLAIM THIS MONEY, AT THIS DISCOVERY, I AND OTHER
OFFICIALS IN THE DEPARTMENT NOW DECIDED TO DO BUSINESS
WITH YOU AND RELEASE THE MONEY TO YOU AS THE NEXT OF
KIN OR RELATION OF THE DECEASE FOR SAFETY AND
SUBSEQUENT DISBURSEMENT SI NCE NOBODY IS COMING FOR IT
AND WE DON'T WANT THIS MONEY TO GO INTO THE BANK
TREASURY AS AN UNCLAIMED DEBT. THE BANKING LAW AND
GUIDELINES OF ECOBANK SPAIN PLC STIPULATES THAT IF SUCH
MONEY REMAINED UNCLAIMED FOR A PERIOD OF THREE (3)
YEARS IT WILL BE TRANSFERRED INTO THE BANK TREASURY AS
UNCLAIMED FUND. THE NEED FOR A FOREIGNER AS NEXT OF KIN
IN THIS BUSINESS IS OCCASSIONED BY THE FACT THAT THE
CUSTOMER WAS A FOREIGNER AND A SPAINISH CANNOT STAND AS
HIS NEXT OF KIN OR HEIR. WE AGREED THAT 30% OF THE M o
nEY WILL BE FOR YOU AS FOREIGN PARTNER, THERE AFTER MY
COLLEAGUE AND I WILL VISIT YOUR COUNTRY FOR
DISBURSEMENT ACCORDING TO THE PERCENTAGE INDICATED.
THEREFORE, TO ENABLE THE IMMEDIATE TRANSFER OF THE FUND
TO YOU AS INDICATED. YOU MUST APPLY TO THE BAN K AS A
RELATION OR NEXT OF KIN OF THE DECEASED, INDICATING
YOUR BANK ACCOUNT NUMBER AND LOCATION WHEREIN THE MONEY
WILL BE REMITTED. UPON RECEIPT OF REPLY BY MAIL, I WILL
SEND TO YOU BY MAIL TH E TEXT OF APPLICATION. AS SOON
AS YOU RECEIVE THIS LETTER YOU SHOULD CONTACT ME
IMMEDIATELY AND INDICATE YOUR DIRECT FAX AND
CONFIDENTIAL TELEPHONE NUMBER FOR EFFECTIVE
COMMUNICATION TRUSTING TO HEAR FROM YOU IMMEDIATELY ON
MY PRIVATE EMAIL fariomusa@latinmail.com <mailto:fariomusa@latinmail.com>
YOURS FAITHFULLY,
MR. FARIO MUSA



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