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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. Vivian Douglas" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <viviandouglasmrs@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2012 04:19:52 -0400
Subject: This is the truth of the matter.

ATTN:
 
I am Mrs. Vivian Douglas a senior staff with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) I am writing you this letter
because cool penny is better than millions of dollars and it is better for one to live and die a poor honest
lady than a rich dishonest one, I and the chief security officer (CSO) of our bank has arranged with an
officer in computer section engineer chuka iloh to bring out part of your total contract sum amounting to
US$5 million to your doorstep but why we are doing this, is because according to information gathered
from the bank’s computer personnel, you have been waiting for a long time to receive your money without
success as I found out that you have almost met all the statutory requirements of the CBN in respect of
your contract payment yet you have not received a cent which we have find out that your problem 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 fax and phone messages from different people in Nigeria/other countries
everyday. Also we found out that some of the officials of the Para starters have been extorting a lot of money
from you with the pretext of helping you to receive your money. I can assure you that this may last for years
yet nothing happens if you did not do away with those officers that you call your partners. And for security
reasons do not tell anybody that you have your money until you receive cash at your doorstep. The money is
in two security-proof boxes weighing 110kg each, which is 220kg for the two boxes.
We went to four courier companies to make arrangements on how to ship them by courier to you: DHL, EMS,
FEDEX, ISA all said that they must open the boxes for inspection by the customs before shipment. This is
something we want to avoid because the boxes were padded with machine. We told the courier company
that the boxes contains photographic and film materials and when open it will loose its efficacy. We did not
declare money because courier does not carry money.
 
Today a friend of mine who is a diplomat disclosed to me that there is Courier Company they use to send
diplomatic materials and information from one country to another. It has diplomatic immunity and cannot be
inspected by any customs anywhere in the world. The name of the courier service is Nobel Diplomatic security
Courier Company (NDSCC). I will meet with them as soon as I have your go ahead order. The diplomat will help
me so we do not have any problem. We have concluded that you must compensate us with five hundred
thousand United States dollars (us$500,000.00) as soon as you receive your money.
 
To this effect, you will send us a promissory note for five hundred thousand United States dollars
(US$500,000.00) along with your address for sending the boxes by courier. Please maintain topmost secrecy
as it may cause a lot of problems if found out that we are using this way to help you. Do not ever tell anybody
about this until you have your money.I want to help you because something in me is telling me that you are
an honest person. When you conclude this and you send our promise, we will help to ship the final part of
your money to you. God be with us as we wait for your reply.
 
Sincerely,
Mrs. Vivian Douglas

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