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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: Richard Adams <h_rad@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: <ric_adams71@hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2007 19:50:17 -0600
Subject: Dear Sir/Madam,



My name is Richard Adams. I have come about your email address through an email listing affiliated with the US Chamber of Commerce and I would be very interested in offering you a part-time paying job in which you could earn allot without quitting your present Job or havingproblem with your employers.I am a man with 4 kids all boys and the love of my life, my wife. I am a some what multitalented man and I do quite a lot of traveling and get to meet quite a lot of people.I work as a freelance consultant which gives me very much time to do my own work which is basically being a freelance researcher who could be employed by research institutes to do research projects anywhere in the world. I reside in Ireland, Dublin even though I have lived most of my life in other parts of the world, I am fully residing in Ireland. Presently, Ihave just been granted a funding to head a research project in the tropical regions of West Africa regarding rare and vulnerable plant species and this would be commencing very soon. However my funding were by my American/Canadian and European counterparts who send me the bunch of payments mostly in US based money orders,European checks andCanadian checks.Getting an accountant in the states, europe and canada or opening an account would have been my best choice but I have a deadline to meet and taking any of those choices would cost me time and a whole lot of other requirements. I am not ready to deal with, as I would be traveling a lot in the meantime.So presently, assuming you would be able to deal with cash, I would be willing to employ you on contract basis to be my payment representative back in the states, this way I could issue and make payments in form of Money Orders, Cashier's Check, etc out to you, you could then cash themeasily, withdraw 10% of the total amount on these payment instruments as your commission and then send the rest back to me through wire transfer.Please, bear it in mind that we would be dealing with quite a handful of cash and you a could be making up to $5000 just working with me in a short period of time within 1-2 weeks.I would be glad if you accept my proposal and I intend to commence on starting as soon as you are ready. If you are interested, please email me back so we could make concluding arrangements.Thank YouRichard Adams
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