419 Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam (2006-01)

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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:

This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- ",000,000" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "00,000.00" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: "Engr Robert Kings," <engrrobertk@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: engineerrobertking@hotmail.com
Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2012 17:23:52 +0100
Subject: THIS WOMAN HUSBAND DIED IN THE Syrian CRISIS,
THIS IS HER DECISION NOW.

Atten: Sir/MADAM,

Am Engr Robert Kings, from United Kingdom. I am a private investor
soliciting for investments under your able supervision in EUROPE / AMERICA
on behalf of a displaced family of Mr Shabangu Hassan from (Syrian) The
family now resides in the United Kingdom due to the unrest in their
region, which actually led to the assassination of their beloved husband
and father Mr Shabangu Hassan who is also my client.

The family is now looking towards an investment of $27,000,000.00 (Twenty
Seven Million United States American Dollars Only) in a lucrative business
with minimum taxes eg. Properties, Hotels, Gold’s/Mines, Contracts and
other lucrative investments in your area.

As soon as you accept this offer, the family will give instruction to the
bank to transfer this fund into your account then I will come over to your
country to have a face to face discussion with you.If you are ready in
this partnership investments, kindly email me and provide me with your
contact telephone numbers and your bank details in order for me to call
and discuss with you in details towards the final executions of this
partnership/ investment.

Thanking you for your anticipated cooperation, while looking forward to
hear from you.

Best Regards
Engr Robert Kings,
(For this Family)

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Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam