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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:

Fraud email example:

From: "Ambassador Terence McCulley(USA)" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <usambassadornigeria1@rediffmail.com>
Date: Sun, 3 Apr 2011 01:17:15 +0700
Subject: RE: STRICKLY CONFIDENTIAL FOR YOU AND US AMBASSADOR.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
BUREAU OF CONSULAR AFFAIRS
US AMBASSADOR TO NIGERIA
11 GARKI ROAD ABUJA
ABUJA-NIGERIA
TEL +234 8188010069
 
 
      DEAR FELLOW CITIZEN OF OUR COUNTRY USA.
 
I SHALL BE COMING TO THE STATES FOR AN OFFICIAL MEETING BY NEXT WEEK AND I WILL BE BRINGING YOUR INTEREST PAYMENT OF US$5M ALONG WITH ME BUT THIS TIME I WILL NOT GO THROUGH CUSTOMS SINCES AM A US AMBASSADOR TO NIGERIA, I AM A US GOVERNMENT AGENT AND I HAVE THE VETO POWER TO GO THROUGH CUSTOMS, I AM SCHEDULED TO HAVE A BRIEFING WITH THE SECRETARY OF STATES BY NEXT WEEK.
 
YOU SHOULD SEND YOUR CELL PHONE NUMBER AND THE ADDRESS WHERE YOU WANT ME TO BRING THE CONSIGNMENT PACKAGE. YOU HAVE REALLY PAID SO MUCH AS I WAS MADE TO UNDERSTAND AND THAT IS WHY I HAVE PERSONALLY INTERVENED, YOU ARE A VERY LUCKY PERSON BECAUSE I SHALL BE BRINGING IT MYSELF AND THERE IS NOTHING ANYONE CAN DO ABOUT IT.
 
YOUR PACKAGE(US$5Million} MUST BE REGISTERED AS AN AMBASSADORIAL PACKAGE FOR ME TO DEFEAT ALL ODDS AND THE COST OF REGISTERING IT IS $210.
 
THE FEE MUST BE PAID IN THE NEXT 50 HOURS VIA WESTERN UNION/MONEYGRAM SO THAT ALL NECESSARY ARRANGEMENT CAN BE MADE BEFORE TIME WILL BE AGAINST US.YOU SHOULD SEND THE FEE DIRECTLY TO THE CARGO REGISTRATION OFFICER WITH THE INFO BELOW
 
NAME:KELECHI ANTHONY
COUNTRY:LAGOS-NIGERIA
TEST QUESTION: TRUE
ANSWER: YES
AMOUNT: $210.
 
AFTER SENDING THE REGISTERATION FEES, YOU SEND OR ATTACH THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION AS PROVE OF PAYMENT TO MY PERSONAL AND PRIVATE E-MAIL ambassador_terence_mcculleyusa@bbs.ctex.org
 
NAME OF SENDER:
MTCN NUMBER:
SENDER ADDRESS:
 
MY TRIP WILL BE BY MID NEXT WEEK AND I EXPECT YOU TO COMPLY BEFORE THEN SO THAT THE DELIVERY CAN BE COMPLETED. IF YOU DO NOT COMPLY, THEN IT WILL NOT BE MY FAULT IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE YOUR CONSIGNMENT PACKAGE.
 
TREAT AS URGENT,
 
AMBASSADOR TERENCE McCULLEY
US AMBASSADOR TO NIGERIA.

Anti-fraud resources: