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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: "United Nations Debt Settlement" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <un.debtpanel@yahoo.se>
Date: Thu, 10 Jan 2013 13:37:26 -0800
Subject: VERIFICATION/APPROVAL OF YOUR PAYMENT

UNITED NATIONS
DEBT SETTLEMENT PANEL.
UK REGIONAL OFFICE, LONDON.
TELEGRAM: UNLNUK
REF NO: AUTH PMT-UN/IOD/2013/Q1


RE: VERIFICATION AND APPROVAL OF YOUR PAYMENT FILE.

FROM THE RECORDS OF OUTSTANDING FUNDS DUE FOR IMMEDIATE PAYMENT, YOUR NAME/PARTICULARS WAS DISCOVERED AS NEXT ON THE APPROVED LIST.
I WISH TO INFORM YOU THAT YOUR PAYMENT IS BEING PROCESSED AND FROM THE RECORD IN MY FILE, THE TOTAL SUM OF US$9.5M HAVE BEEN APPROVED ON YOUR BEHALF THIS FISCAL YEAR.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION, WE HAVE ASSIGNED A BANK IN LONDON TO HANDLE ALL RELATED TRANSACTIONS TO AVOID FURTHER COMPLAIN FROM BENEFICIARIES ABOUT INCESSANT TAXES, FEES AND LEVIES.

KINDLY RE-CONFIRM THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IMMEDIATELY TO FACILITATE THE ISSUANCE OF AN INTERNATIONAL PAYMENT JUSTIFICATION ORDER DOCUMENT ON YOUR BEHALF WHICH WILL BE SUBMITTED TO THE BANK FOR THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF YOUR FUNDS.

1) YOUR FULL NAME:
2) CONTACT ADDRESS:
3) NATIONALITY:
4) PHONE,
5) GENDER:
6) AGE:

AS SOON AS THIS INFORMATION IS RECEIVED, YOUR PAYMENT WILL BE MADE TO YOUR NOMINATED BANK ACCOUNT DIRECTLY FROM THE BANK IN LONDON.

YOUR PAYMENT APPROVAL IS MADE UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE WORLD BANK AND WE INTEND TO SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETE YOUR FUNDS TRANSFER. YOU ARE THEREFORE STRONGLY ADVISED TO DESIST FROM FUTHER COMMUNICATION WITH ANY OTHER BANK OR INSTITUTION REGARDING THIS MATTER, FOR THE OVERALL SAFETY OF YOU AND YOUR FUND.

BEST REGARDS,

JEREMY McCALISTER
HEAD OF GOVERNANCE AND FINANCE

Anti-fraud resources: