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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• Frequently asked Questions (419 FAQ)
• Phone numbers used by 419 scammers
  (+225 +229 +234 +27 +31 +32 +34 +44 other)
• Company names mentioned in 419 spam:
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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.

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:

• An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "money laundering" ("anti-terrorist", "anti-money laundering" or "drug-free" certificates are a common way for criminals in fake lottery scams and other Advance Fee scams to get you to send money to them. There are no such certificates in the real banking world. )
• This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
  
• Western Union money transfer is completely untraceable and therefore is *not* safe to use with anyone you do not know personally. It is the preferred method of online criminals to collect money from their victims.
• This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
  • +2348036544667 (Nigeria, prepaid mobile phone)
• This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
  • new775t@minister.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
  • settlement_department@mail.md (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "settlement_department@mail.md" <moses_igu@klikni.cz>
Reply-To: new775t@minister.com
Date: Tue, 27 May 2008 12:50:48 +0100
Subject: IF YOU WANT TO GET PAID, BE READY TO VISIT OUR PAYMENT CENTER TO COLLECT YOUR FUND


OFFICE OF THE MINISTER
INTERNATIONAL CREDIT SETTLEMENT
PAYMENT DEPARTMENT (FMF)
FEDERAL MINISTY OF FINANCE NIGERIA
OFFICIAL EMAIL: new775t@minister.com
PERSONAL: settlement_department@mail.md
DIRECT LINE: 234 803 654 4667

Dear Creditor,

We are obliging to in for you that your fund has been approved for immediate
release to you through our off show payment centers. Be informed that we the
international credit settlement of Federal Ministry of Finance Nigeria has
today verified your payment file and found out that why you have not
received your payment is because you have not followed the due procedure in
pursuit of your payment.

Secondly, we have been informed that your several attempt to retrieve your
fund becomes in vain due to endless charges for one document or the other
hence we have made it mandatory that every beneficiary who want to receive
his/her payment must visit any of our payment center close to your country
to receive your fund. Right now, we have arranged your payment through our
off show payment offices abroad, if you really want to receive your funds,
it is mandatory that you visit any of our payment center close to you.

At this juncture, please note that you are not advised to send money upfront
to any of our representative for any reason. No payment through western
union is required; all payment in the air has to stop. We learnt that our
foreign creditors do send money upfront via western union money
transfer/money gram to people they do not know. How you can you pay money to
some one you have never seen? How can you continuously paying money to
people unknown to you via western union money transfer? In doing this, have
you in any way received your money? No, the problem still remains the same.
Please reason with me, which of the banks in the world will tell you to
provide them with your account information just like that for transfer of
such hug amount without proper identification or even demand you appear in
person for the endorsement of the fund release order document as the true
owner of the fund? All these are questions you should ask your self.

To avoid reoccurrence of the past and to be sure of who you are dealing
with, you must visit any of our payment office close to you to receive you
payment that is the latest instruction from the Federal Ministry of Finance
on behalf of federal republic of Nigeria, which I assure you will not
involve any fraudulent activity or money laundering because you will know
the person you are dealing with and you will see your funds life

We are working together with the INTERPOL and FBI in conjunction with other
international financial monitoring bodies hence you have absolutely nothing
to be afraid of and due to the previous scam and fraudulent act from
imposters in our country in conjunction with their counterparts abroad, we
have made it mandatory that you visit any of our payment office close to you
to collect your money.

Consequently, we have been mandated to pay you as soon you get respond to
this vital notification to end your nightmare in pursuit of your payment.

Best Regards,
Dr. Samsudeen Usman
Federal Ministry of Finance

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam