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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: "REV. FR. PETER MARK"<revfrptrermarkk@rediffmail.com>
Reply-To: <rev.fr.ptermark@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2011 15:03:16 +0100
Subject: YOUR AWAITING PAYMENT VERY URGENT REMINDER

DAER,

I AM REV. FR. PETER MARK, A SENIOR STAFF WITH THE WORLD BANK FACT FINDING & SPECIAL DUTIES OFFICE.I AM WRITING YOU THIS LETTER BASED ON THE FACT THAT COOL PENNY IS BETTER THAN MILLIONS OF DOLLARS MEANS IT'S BETTER FOR ONE TO LIVE AND DIE POOR HONEST MAN THAN A RICH DISHONEST ONE. I AND THE CHIEF SECURITY
OFFICER (CSO) OF THIS ORGANISATION HAVE ARRANGED WITH AN OFFICER IN THE COMPUTER SECTION THE PERSON OF ENGINEER SIMTH CLIFF TO BRING OUT PART OF YOUR TOTAL PENDING PAYMENT WITH REFERENCE NUMBER (LM-05-371) AMOUNTING TO US$3.5 MILLION. WHY WE DID THIS IS BECAUSE ACCORDING TO INFORMATION GATHERED FROM THE
BANK’S/SECURITY COMPUTER, YOU HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR A LONG TIME TO RECEIVE THIS PAYMENT WITHOUT SUCCESS. AS I FOUND OUT THAT YOU HAVE ALMOST MET ALL THE STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS IN RESPECT OF YOUR PENDING PAYMENT. THE PROBLEM YOU ARE HAVING IS THAT OF INTEREST GROUPS, A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE INTERESTED IN YOUR PAYMENT AND THOSE PEOPLE ARE MERELY DOING PAPER WORKS WITH YOU AND THAT EXPLAINS WHY YOU RECEIVE DIFFERENT KINDS OF UNTRUE EMAIL AND PHONE MESSAGES FROM
DIFFERENT PEOPLE EVERYDAY. ALSO WE FOUND OUT THAT SOME OF THE OFFICIALS OF THE PARASTATALS HAVE BEEN EXTORTING A LOT OF MONEY FROM YOU WITH THE PRETEXT OF HELPING YOU RECEIVE YOUR MONEY. I CAN ASSURE YOU THIS WILL KEEP HAPPENING IF YOU DO NOT DO AWAY WITH THOSE OFFICERS. FOR SECURITY REASONS YOU DO NOT HAVE TO TELL ANYBODY THAT YOUR HAVE YOUR PAYMENT ON THE WAY UNTIL THE PAYMENT GETS TO YOU.

THE SAID PAYMENT IS BEEN ARRANGED IN A SECURITY-PROOF BOX WEIGHING 75KG. IN ORDER TO GET THIS BOX SHIPPED TO YOU I AND THE (CSO) YESTERDAY WENT TO THIS FOUR COURIER COMPANIES DHL, EMS, FEDEX AND UPS TO MAKE ARRANGEMENTS ON HOW TO GET THE BOX SHIPPED TO YOU BY COURIER, BUT TO NO AVAIL THE ABOVE COURIER COMPANIES ALL MADE US TO UNDERSTAND THAT THEY WILL HAVE TO OPEN THE BOX FOR INSPECTION BY THE CUSTOMS BEFORE SHIPMENT. THIS IS SOMETHING WE WANT TO AVOID BECAUSE THIS
BOX IS BEEN PADDED WITH SYNTHETIC NYLON AND TO OPEN IT YOU WILL HAVE TO CUT THE PAD BEFORE YOU WILL MEET THE BUTTON THAT YOU WILL PRESS TO OPEN THE DIAL CODE-LOCK. THERE IS NO WAY YOU CAN OPEN THE BOX AND BE ABLE TO CLOSE IT AGAIN BECAUSE IT WAS PADDED WITH MACHINE. WE TOLD THE COURIER SERVICES THAT THE BOX CONTAINED FILM MATERIALS AND WHEN OPEN WILL SPOIL THE MATERIALS. <N: B> WE DID NOT DECLARE MONEY BECAUSE COURIER DOES NOT CARRY MONEY.

TODAY A FRIEND OF MINE WHO IS DIPLOMAT DISCLOSED TO ME THAT THERE IS A SECURITY COURIER SERVICE COMPANY THAT IS SPECIALISED IN SENDING DIPLOMATIC MATERIALS AND INFORMATION FROM ONE COUNTRY TO ANOTHER, WHICH ALSO HAS DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY AND CONSIGNMENT SUCH AS THIS, CANNOT BE CHECKED BY ANY CUSTOMS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. I HAVE THEREFORE MET THE OFFICIAL OF THE SECURITY COURIER SERVICE AND CONCLUDED SHIPPING ARRANGEMENT WITH THEM, WHICH THEY WILL COMMENCE AS SOON AS I HAVE YOUR GO AHEAD ORDER. THE DIPLOMAT WHO WILL BE BRING IN THIS CONSIGNMENT TO YOU IS AN EXPERT AND HAS BEEN IN THIS LINE OF WORK FOR MANY YEARS NOW SO WE HAVE NOTTING TO WORRY ABOUT. AFTER ALL ARRANGEMENTS WE HAVE CONCLUDED THAT YOU MUST DONATE FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS (US$500,000.00) TO ANY CHARITY ORGANISATION I DESIGNATE AS SOON AS YOU RECEIVE YOUR MONEY. TO THIS EFFECT, YOU WILL SEND TO US A PROMISSORY NOTE FOR THE DONATION ALONG WITH OUR ADDRESS WHERE YOU WILL LIKE THE BOX TO BE DELIVERE
D TO BY THE COURIER. PLEASE MAINT
MAY GOD BE WITH YOU AS I WAIT FOR YOUR RESPONSE VIA EMAIL FEEL FREE TO CALL ME IF YOU WILL LIKE US TO DISCUSES MORE ON THIS:


HOWEVER, I HAVE ALREADY SENT YOU THIS SAME LETTER MONTH AGO, I HAVE NOT HEARD FROM YOU.

Yours faithfully,
REV. FR. PETER MARK,

Anti-fraud resources: