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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: "AHMED SANNI" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <ahmedsanni2013@rocketmail.com>
Date: Thu, 17 Jan 2013 03:02:52 -0800
Subject: FROM AHMED SANNI, URGENT INFORMATION


ATTN;THE BENEFICIARY

I AM AHMED SANNI, A COMPUTER SCIENTIST WITH CENTRAL
BANK OF NIGERIA.I AM 28YEARS OLD,AND JUST STARTED WORK
WITH CBN. I CAME ACROSS YOUR FILE WHICH IS MARKED X
AND YOUR RELEASE DISC PAINTED RED, I TOOK TIME TO
STUDY IT AND FOUND OUT THAT YOU HAVE PAID VIRTUALLY
ALL FEES AND CERTIFICATES BUT THE FUNDS HAS NOT BEEN
RELEASED TO YOU.I WANT TO LET YOU KNOW THAT WHAT YOU
WENT THROUGH IN RESPECT OF YOUR FUNDS BY SOME
UNSCRUPULOUS OFFICIALS HERE IN NIGERIA MADE ME TO
CONTACT YOU.


THE MOST ANNOYING THING IS THAT THEY CAN NOT TELL YOU
THE TRUTH.THAT ON NO ACCOUNT WILL THEY EVER RELEASE
THIS FUNDS TO YOU INSTEAD THEY LET YOU SPEND MONEY
UNNECESSARILY. I DO NOT INTEND TO WORK HERE ALL THE
DAYS OF MY LIFE, I CAN RELEASE THIS FUND TO YOU IF YOU
CAN SATISFY ME OF MY SECURITY AND HOW I CAN RUN AWAY
FROM NIGERIA IF I DO THIS BECAUSE IF I DON'T,MY LIFE
WILL BE AT DANGER.

PLEASE THIS IS LIKE A MAFIA SETTING IN NIGERIA.YOU MAY
NOT UNDERSTAND IT BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT A NIGERIAN. THE
ONLY THING I WILL NEED TO RELEASE THIS FUND IS A
SPECIAL HARD DISC, WE CALL IT HB2. YOU WILL BUY TWO OF
IT AND SEND TO ME TO ENABLE ME RECOPY YOUR
INFORMATIONS, DESTROY THE PREVIOUS ONE AND PUNCH THE
COMPUTER TO REFLECT IN YOUR BANK ACCOUNT WITHIN 24
BANKING HOURS.I WILL CLEAN UP THE TRACER AND DESTROY
YOUR FILE.AFTER WHICH I WILL RUN AWAY FROM NIGERIA TO
MEET WITH YOU.IF YOU ARE INTERESTED,DO GET IN TOUCH
WITH ME IMMEDIATELY THROUGH MY EMAIL BOX. I WILL LIKE
YOU TO RECOMFIRM YOUR PARTICULARS AND BANKING
INFORMATIONS SO THAT THERE WON'T BE ANY MISTAKES IN
THE TRANSFER.

I WILL DO IT DIRECTLY TO YOUR ACCOUNT PROVIDED YOU
SEND ME THE DISC AND KEEP EVERYTHING SECRET. AWAITING
YOUR URGENT RESPONSE.YOU CAN CALL ME ON MY MOTHER'S
PHONE NUMBER;234-80-80849644 TODAY BY 10.00PM MY TIME
WHEN I MUST HAVE COME BACK FROM WORK FOR MORE DETAILS.

BEST REGARDS,
AHMED SANNI.

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