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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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr.James Galon" <jamesgalon1@videobank.it>
Reply-To: jamesg1@videobank.it
Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2010 03:13:27 +0100
Subject: VERY IMPORTANT!!{Read and Reply}



From:Mr.James Galon
Bank UBS AG Switzerland
Postfach 8098 Zürich
Switzerland
Swiss Clearing Number:230
Postal Account:80-2-2
SWIFT: UBSW CH ZH 80A


Compliments of the Day,


I am an investment consultant working with UBS Zurich, Switzerland . I will be
happy to work this deal out with you if you have a corporate or personal Bank
Account and if you are capable to keep TOP SECRET. I need strong
Assurance that
you will never let me down, if I transfer this money to your account.


During one of our periodic auditing I discovered a dormant accounts
with holding
balance of US$ 232,000.000.00 {Two hundred and Thirty Two million US Dollars
only} Sometimes a person will open a bank account, deposit money, and then
disappear into the tin air.. Banks are not always able to find out what has
become of these silent customers,or to know whether they should follow up on
requests from people who claim to be heirs to the accounts. The main
problem is
that the customer resides abroad and, due to bank secrecy, the bank cannot
publish notices in the international press to locate the depositaries.
This has
led the majority of Swiss banks to refrain from opening small-deposit accounts
for foreign customers; for fear that they will forget that the
account exists.


It has happened in the past, however, that customers pass away and their heirs
can neither prove the death, nor their heir ship. This was a frequent
occurrence
during the wartime periods, and the banks have now set up a simple, rapid
resolution procedure operating to their customers' advantage. Dormant
assets are
defined as any assets deposited with a bank (i.e. an account, a
custody account
or a safety-deposit box) for which there has been no contact with the customer
in the bank's files for the last ten years or more. I am constrained to issue
more details about this business until your response is received.If you know
that you are capable to handle large or small amount on trust and can keep
secret and ready to take 45% of any amount I transfer to your account from the
dormant account and I will take 55%, send your account information's by return
mail. Tell me more about yourself, while I look forward to receive the above
information.


I want to re-assure you that this business is risk free and you can send an
empty account to receive the funds, provided that the account is capable to
receive incoming funds.


Thank you for your time and attention.

Warmest regards,
Mr.James Galon.

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