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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.

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

Fraud email example:

From: "Johnson Obika" <john_obika12@msn.com>
Reply-To: johnsonobika@yahoo.fr
Date: Wed, 01 Feb 2006 00:35:57 +0000
Subject: WITH TRUST

From: Johnson Obika
African continental Bank PLC,
Lagos.

Dear Friend,

With all due respect to your personality, I request that you do not feel
disturbed as I know that business of this magnitude will surely make one
apprehensive.
I write to solicit your utmost confidence, knowing too well that we have
neither known nor met each other before, but because you and the Late Engr
Brian Lloyd Smith are from the same country. Having searched through the
internet,from where I got your email address, I hereby request that you
become the Next of Kin to the late customer of our bank, Late Engr Brian
Lloyd Smith, who died in West Africa here and abandoned a fixed deposit of
fifteen Million, Five Hundred Thousand United States dollars (USD $
15.500.000.00), without a specified next of kin to inherit the deposit at
the time of his death.
My name is johnson obika. I am an accountant and the accounting officer to
the Late Engr Brian Lloyd Smith in the African continental Bank PLC. (ACB).
In the financial Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the holding bank
iS required to repatriate any abandoned fund by a foreigner if nobody comes
to claim the said funds after three (3) years of the confirmation of the
death of the depositor.For the past three years, all the effort of our
Customer Service Department to trace any relative of the Late Late Engr
Brian Lloyd Smith has proved abortive. I do not want this funds to go into
the hands of our corrupt government officials,who have embezzled our
national funds all these years.
My interest in this abandoned deposit is as follows:
1) To see that this abandoned deposit is not handed over to the corrupt
government officials of President Olusegun Obansanjo.
2) To make you the Next of Kin to the Late Engr Brian Lloyd Smith and whom
he has willed the said deposit before his death.
3) To ensure that the deposited funds is transferred to you as your
INHERITANCE.
4) To ensure that my own share of it is invested wisely in your country
in any viable area of investment.
Bear in mind that the entire transaction will be risk - free and legitimate
since the funds will be coming to you as your INHERITANCE.
If this proposition is acceptable by you, respond to me ASAP but if not
acceptable by you, do not take advantage of it to betray me.
Remember that doing business over the Internet could sometimes be
unconfidential.If acceptable by you, send me your private telephone and fax
numbers for me to call you for detailed discussion.

God bless.

Johnson Obika.
(Accountant,


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