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.
This email message is a next of kin scam.

Fraud email example:

From: MORRIS@mailserver.saigonnet.vn, RUFFALO@mailserver.saigonnet.vn,
morrisruffalo@o2.pl
Reply-To: morrisruffalo@o2.pl
Date: Sat, 03 Jul 2010 16:51:34 +0700
Subject: I NEED YOUR ASSISTANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HELLO FRIEND,

PLEASE BEAR WITH ME FOR NOW AND DO NOT ASK MY NAME. WHAT I HAVE MAY BE OF
INTEREST TO YOU. IT IS A BUSINESS PROPOSAL THAT WILL BE BENEFICIAL TO YOU
AND I.

I LIVE IN LONDON , UNITED KINGDOM . I AM 53 YEARS OLD AND I HAVE BEEN
WORKING IN A BANK IN LONDON FOR THE PAST 17 YEARS WHERE I AM PRESENTLY AN
ACCOUNTS MANAGER. I WILL GIVE YOU MY FULL DETAILS ON YOUR REPLY TO THIS
LETTER. MY AIM OF CONTACTING YOU IS TO SOLICIT YOUR CO-OPERATION AND
ASSISTANCE BASED ON ONE OF THE ACCOUNTS UNDER MY MANAGEMENT CONTAINING
$18.5MILLION (EIGHTEEN MILLION & FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS) WHICH HAS
REMAINED DORMANT FOR THE LAST TWELVE YEARS. THIS ACCOUNT WAS OWNED BY THE
LATE MRS. LAUREN BAKER AND FOLLOWING MY INVESTIGATION, I FOUND OUT THAT
SHE DIED ON MAY 1992 VIA A CAR CRASH IN THE BAHAMAS AND SHE LEFT NO
CHILDREN OR NEXT OF KIN.

I WILL INFORM YOU MORE ON HOW WE CAN GET THE MONEY IN HER ACCOUNT
TRANSFERED INTO YOUR ACCOUNT IF YOU AGREE TO CO-OPERATE WITH ME ON THIS ON
YOUR REPLY TO THIS MAIL.
I WILL ALSO GIVE YOU MORE PERSONAL DETAILS OF ME AND THE TRANSACTION ON
YOUR REPLY.
PLEASE TREAT THIS AS CONFIDENTIAL, URGENT AND OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE.

YOURS FAITHFULLY,
FRIEND.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam