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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: "Mrs Karen Allen" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrsallen022@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2011 11:45:45 -0400
Subject: Mrs Karen Allen.

From: Mrs Karen Allen.


Hello,

Please forgive me if this message comes to you as a surprise I was divinely inspired to pick your name among other names found in the Internet database,after series of prayers and God's direction. I am Mrs Karen Allen a citizen of United States.I was a farmer by profession.But currently undergoing medical treatment. I was married to Dr. David Allen who was a sucessfull business man.We went on vacation to Penang Malaysia when he had a heart attack and we came back home. My husband later died of that attack and a sickness known as Haemorrhage of the brain due to shock.We have been married for eleven years without a child.

However, before we went on this Vacation, My late husband has a lot of business in Europe,America and Asia before he died,he deposited two trunk boxes in a diplomatic security company,one of the boxes is in Asia and the other in europe right now,and they both contain the sum of ($11.5) million dollars in hundred dollar bills.Last week, my Doctor told me that I would not live for the next five months due to my ailing health which sparked off as a result of the death of my husband. Though what disturbs me most is my inability to move around due to a partial paralysis. Having known my condition I decided to donate this fund to a church or a mosque or better still a Christian or a Moslem individual that will utilize this money for charity,orphanages.

I took this decision because I do not have any child that will inherit this money and I don't want my husband's hard earned money to be mis-used. I do not want a situation where this money will be used in an ungodly manner, hence the reason for taking this bold decision. I am not afraid of death because I know that I am going to die one day. What I need from you is that you contact the security company,and let them know you are the beneficiary of the consignment and would like to claim it from them.I will give you all informations that you will need to open correspondence with them.If you feel you are worthy enough to make yourself available in this project, let me know immediately you read my mail. GOD will surely provide you the power and strength to accomplish this project.

Right now due to my failing health condition, i am sending this mail through my nurse Mr Lawrence Brown,I have been adviced to cease communication with anyone but this fine gentle man decided to help me.I hope to hear from you soon.

Waiting for your urgent response.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs Karen Allen.

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