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:
- "to your nominated bank account" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- ",500,000" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "00,000.00" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "you are advice to " (this email uses bad English)
- "here in united kingdom" (this email uses bad English)
- "accredited attorney" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- "dormant account" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- "abidjan" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "tomsonclerkoffice@ibibo.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
This email message is a fake lottery scam. Consider the following facts about real lotteries:
1. They don't notify winners by email.
2. You can't win without first buying a lottery ticket.
3. They don't randomly select email addresses to award prizes to.
4. They don't use free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) to communicate with you.
5. They don't tell you to call a mobile phone number.
6. They don't tell you to keep your winnings secret.
7. They will never ask a winner to pay any fees to receive a prize!

Fraud email example:

From: "TOMSON CLERK" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <tomsonclerkoffice@ibibo.com>
Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2011 14:53:18 +0100
Subject: ATTENTION BENEFICIARY:TRANSFER OF US$3,500,000.00 IN FAVOUR OF
BENEFICIARY AS THE COMPENSATION FEE.

>From Abbey National Bank Plc
London England..
Fax:+448704869441
Tel:44 770 007 5967
29/03/2011

Attn the beneficiary.

RE: TRANSFER OF US$3,500,000.00 IN FAVOUR OF BENEFICIARY AS THE COMPENSATION FEE.

I acknowledged the receipt of your fund (US$3.5M) from Bank of Africa with the Reference Number TT/XX0148962/ABJ/WTF and the fund was deposited or transfer to our bank under suspense account.

However the Bank of Africa transferred the sum of US$3.5M to our bank under a suspense account, because Bank of Africa Abidjan Cote d Ivoire cannot make international transfer from outside Cote d Ivoire that value amount of US$3.5M because of the political crisis in cote d ivoire,the two president are ruling the country now and that is why you cannot receive your fund (US$3.5M) from Bank of Africa Abidjan Cote d Ivoire due to the political crisis and before we will transfer the fund to your designated bank account, the new beneficiary (being you) need or advice to appoint an accredited Attorney here in United Kingdom who will secure approvals documents from the Ministry of Interior / Finance UK, because the fund in question was in dormant account for very long period.

Sir, you are advice to send me the three first pages of your International Passport or ID card to enable us convince that you are the real beneficiary of this fund (US$3.5M)and once i receive your identity, I will proceed as regards to the transfer of the fund to your nominated bank account.

However, do send me your bank details where we will use to remit the fund to your account once we confirm that you are the new beneficiary to receive this fund and also send us your telephone numbers (Mobile Telephone Number) / fax.

Finally, do send me the information I requested from you immediately to enable us give you the contact address of the accredited attorney here in London whom will help you to secure the approvals fund transfer documents in your name here in London for the onward remittance of the US$3.5M to your nominated bank account and do reach me on this number 44 770 007 5967 immediately you receive this mail via [tomsonclerkoffice@ibibo.com]and you can as well reply me by fax 448704869441.

Looking forward to hear from you today.
Tomson Clerk

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam