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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: "Mr. Terence P. McCulley" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <terrencemcally13@datafull.com>
Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2013 07:57:20 -0500
Subject: RE. COMPENSATION!

United States Consulate General Lagos
2 Walter Carrington Crescent
Victoria Island, Lagos Nigeria.
 
 
Dear Sir/Madam
 
My name is Terence Patrick McCulley, the new United States Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The United States Senate had confirmed my nomination on August 5 2010 after being nominated for this position by U.S. President Barack Obama on June 28, 2010. My credentials as the new Ambassador appointed were presented to His Excellency President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Nigeria, on November 2, 2010. I am a career member of the senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister-Counselor whose diplomatic career has been spent mostly in Africa or working on African issues. I served most recently as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen, DenmarK. Prior to this, I was the U.S. Ambassador to Mali, and I have served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassies in Tunisia, Senegal and Togo. Other overseas postings include Niger, South Africa, India and Chad. In Washington, I was the senior desk officer for Zaire (now Democratic Repu
 
http://nigeria.usembassy.gov/biography.html
 
However, following the resolution of the meeting held with His Excellency President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan at the Presidential Villa in Abuja yesterday with some members of the Federal House of Senate, an agreement was reached that the sum of $500,000.00 USD must be paid out to you in the form of a compensation for all the years you have wasted in waiting for your funds to be released. Hence, the $500,000.00 USD compensation fund has been instructed to be paid out to you in the form of a ATM VISA CARD drawn on Intercontinental Bank. The said ATM VISA CARD will be packaged inside a U.S Embassy Official Envelope to be sent to you via Postal Mail at no cost to your mailing address. And the time frame for delivery is 72 hours, which is 3 days since it would be sent via a Postal Mail Service.
 
Meanwhile, a "Custom Clearance Certificate" must be obtained from the Nigerian Customs Authourity at a fee of $200.00 USD for a full clearance certification on the BANK DRAFT. Hence, the $200.00 dollar fee must be paid within 24 hours upon your receipt of this notification via western union or MoneyGram, so that all neccessary arrangement can be made ahead of time.The fee should be sent to me directly to the "Embassy Protocol Officer"
 
Please take note that the "Custom Clearance Certificate" and the ATM VISA CARD will be packaged together inside the U.S Embassy Official Envelope for immediate dIspatch to your mailing address. Hence, you are advised to comply as requested to enable me discharge my official duty accordingly.
 
Congratulations!!!
Respectfully yours,
 
Mr. Terence P. McCulley
US Ambassador to Nigeria

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