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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: "James Morgan" <james.morgan@yahoo.cn>
Reply-To: jmorgan@yahoo.cn
Date: Sun, 14 Oct 2012 19:51:20 +0200
Subject: For your consideration

I am James Morgan, I work as an auditor general in a financial institution in Dublin, Ireland. In the
course of my auditing, I discovered an account, that has laid dormant since the 90's. This account
belongs to a dead foreigner, late Mr. Said Muhammad Ibrahim, who died in 1999. Every effort made to
track any member of his family or next of kin has since failed; hence I got in contact with you to
stand
as his next of kin since I can use my position here to get all the necessary documents that will back
you up as the next of Kin. He died leaving no heir or a will.

My intention is to transfer this sum of $15.5M in the aforementioned account to a safe account
overseas. I am therefore proposing that you quietly partner with me and provide an account or set up
a new one that will serve the purpose of receiving this fund. For your assistance in this venture, I am
ready to part with a good percentage of the entire funds. After going through the deceased person's
records and files, I discovered that:

(1) No one has operated this account since 1999
(2) He died without an heir; hence the money has been floating.
(3) No other person knows about this account and there was no known beneficiary.

If I do not remit this money urgently, it would be forfeited and subsequently converted to company's
funds that will benefit only the directors of my firm. This money can be approved to you legally as
with all the necessary documentary approvals in your name. However, you would be required to show
some proof of claim that I will provide you with and also guide you on how to make your applications.

Please do give me a reply so that I can send you detailed information on the modalities of my
proposition. I completely trust you to keep this proposition absolutely confidential. Kindly forward
your telephone and fax numbers where I can reach you easily. I look forward to your prompt
response.

Best Regards,
James Morgan

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