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.
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- joy_nicolay@yahoo.co.uk (Yahoo, United Kingdom; can be used from anywhere worldwide)

Fraud email example:

From: Richard Daniels <irsmorttin3@yahoo.co.uk>
Reply-To: Richard Daniels <alexshannan007@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Sat, 2 Mar 2013 11:11:38 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: =?utf-8?B?UGxlYXNlLCBjb21wbGV0ZSBGb3JtIFctOEJFTiDigJhhdHRhY2hlZOKAnSBh?=
=?utf-8?B?bmQgcmV0dXJuIHRvIHVz?=

Dear Sir,

Our records indicate that you are a non-resident alien. As a result, you are exempt from United States of America Tax reporting and withholding, on interest paid on your bank account and other financial dealings. To protect your exemption, from paying tax on your accounts and other financial benefit held in USA, We are required by law to update our records to rectify your exemption status.
Therefore, you are to authenticate the following by completing form W-8BEN, and return to us as soon as possible.
Please, complete Form W-8BEN â€˜attachedâ€ and return to us within 1 (one) week from the receipt of this letter in order to enable us update your records immediately. If your account or any other financial benefits are not rectified in a timely manner, it will be subject to USA tax reporting and back up withholding (if back up withholding applies, we are require to withhold 30% of the interest paid to you).

We appreciate your cooperation in helping us protect your exempt status and also update our records.

Sincerely.
Â
JOY NICOLAY (MRS)
Director of Information
joy_nicolay@yahoo.co.uk

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam