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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: "Dave Frizzell Wedell" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <dave.frizzell@live.com>
Date: Tue, 27 Aug 2013 18:31:36 +0100
Subject: Please Help Me..

*This message was transferred with a trial version of CommuniGate(r) Pro*
My Name is David Frizzell Wedell, I am widowed, currently staying with my old granny ,from Dallas,Tx. I am 48 years of age,I am a Captain in the Us Army,i am assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C, which posted me currently to a peace keeping mission here in Aleppo, Syria.

I write this letter, as this may be my last letter, to you, I write not because I think of fear which constantly grasp me with a terrible human and moral consequence of my life here in Syria, or manipulation and thirst for wealth and power, My day of reckoning is upon me. Yours will come.

I lost my wife and only son to a terrible accident three years ago (2010). My wife was a Crude Oil Merchant and before her untimely death, she had over Five Million British pounds (5million GBP) in a Bank in London, Which bores down to reason why I need your help in transferring my late wife's funds. This message is not an error,I am only looking for a trustworthy Partner, who can guarantee that once this money is transferred we can split it equally amongst ourselves.

I am in contact with the account officer in charge of the funds though he recently has been transferred to another unit in the Bank but he has promised to give me directions on how i can go about transferring the funds.

I am honest, God Fearing, and a positive person. I am a real and easy person to talk to and a good listener also. I want you to know that I loved my family and I also i miss them a lot. And as a veteran i know its only best for me to safe keep part of this money in a private account because if i fail to do so the bank will forward the money to the Automated Clearing House (ACH). According to the accounts officer if the money is forwarded to the ACH, I stand a chance of loosing it to the Government.

I'll give you further details as soon as you indicate your interest.

Note: This transaction is Highly Confidential. To this effect you are to contact me only through my private email address.

I await your anticipated co-operation.

Yours Sincerely,

Captain Dave.

Anti-fraud resources: