419 Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam (2006-01)

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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:

This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "insurance fee " (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "security keeping fee" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "western union" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "money gram" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "money transfer control number" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "courier service" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
- "courier company" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
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.
- +2348130886850

Fraud email example:

From: FedEx Delivery Services Nigeria Mr.Michael Winston
<fedex-customerservices-nig@live.nl>
Reply-To: <fedex-customerservices-nig@hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 13 May 2010 22:04:14 +0000
Subject: =?windows-1256?Q?Security_S?= =?windows-1256?Q?afe_Keepin?=
=?windows-1256?Q?g_Fee_Paym?= =?windows-1256?Q?ent_Direct?=
=?windows-1256?Q?ives=FE?=

FedEx Courier Service, West Africa
Edo State. Nigeria

CPEL/OWN/9876

Parcel No EG2272-NIG

Dear Customer: John VICTIMNAME

Thanks you for your mail. This transaction indicate that your parcel has officially cleared for delivery by the FedEx Organisation as we have confirmed your real address for delivery of your parcel. There is this Mr.Michael Winston, who came to our office to place your parcel on out going delivery, he already paid for the insurance fee and delivery charges , but he did not pay for the Security keeping fee due to the fact that we don't know when you will be contacting us via email, that we have your parcel. We advised him not to pay for the security keeping fee of the courier company , but we informed him to contact you on time so you will not have to pay more than $120 USD on dumurrage.

Payment of $120 USD as the Security keeping fee, should be made via Western Union/Money Gram Money Transfer to the company via the under listed information of the receiving account officer who is responsible for that. Find below our Receiving officer's Information:

Transfer Information
Receivers Agent: Paul Odion
FedEx Office Address {Nigeria}: #27 Sepele Road Benin City, Edo State
Country: Nigeria
Text Question to be used: Relationship?
Text Anwser: Friend

After payment have been made, do send in a copy of the payment slip as proof and verification of payment so that as soon as the security fee is received, delivery will be made to your doorstep according to our delivery requirement under 48 hours.

NAME OF SENDER:
ADDRESS OF SENDER:
AMOUNT:
MONEY TRANSFER CONTROL NUMBER. (M.T.C.N):
SECRET QUESTION & ANSWER:

Await your response as soon as payment have been made.

NOTE: BELOW IS THE DISPLAY IMAGE OF YOUR PARCEL ON MY DESK, READY FOR INSTANT DISPATCHMENT.

Yours Sincerely,
Mrs. Joanna Gibson (Senior Delivery Officer)
© 2010 FedEx INTERNATIONAL.

Tel:(+234) 813 0886 850.

_________________________________________________________________
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Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam