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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: "Mr. Gerald W. Whitley" <geraldwwhitley2@yahoo.co.uk>
Reply-To: geraldw.whitley@hotmail.com
Date: Sun, 09 Sep 2007 18:35:22 -0400
Subject: Urgent Response

Dear Friend,

I am Mr. Gerald W. Whitley, Retired Personnel Officer to
Auditor with the bank below and I have a very sensitive
and confidential brief for you from NatWest Bank,
Edinburgh,UK.

I am requesting for your partnership in re-profiling funds
I will give the details, but in summary, the funds are
coming via NatWest Bank.

This is a legitimate transaction.You will be paid 45% for
your "Management Fees".If you are interested,please write
back and I will provide you further
details and instructions.

Please keep this confidential, as we can't afford more
jeopardize.Finally,please note that this must be concluded
within two weeks.please write back promptly.

I look forward to it.

Regards,
Mr. Gerald


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