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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: "Mrs.Mercy Bailey" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <alexjakes@gmx.com>
Date: Mon, 2 Sep 2013 06:40:37 -0400
Subject: ATTENTION: CONTACT THE COURIER SERVICE/SECURITY COMPANY

 
ATTN:
     I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU SINCE TO COME DOWN HERE AND PICK YOUR FUNDS
OF ($1.5 MILLION USD) WHICH MY BOSS ASKED ME TO REMIT TO YOU FOR YOUR
COMPENSATION AS SOON AS YOU REQUEST FOR IT, BUT I DID NOT HEAR FROM YOU
SINCE THAT TIME. THEN I WENT AND DEPOSITED THE MONEY WITH A COURIER
SERVICE/SECURITY COMPANY HERE IN NIGERIA TO AVOID LOOSING THE FUNDS, AND THE
NAME OF THE COMPANY IS FEDEX COURIER SERVICE/SECURITY COMPANY.
 
     I WILL BE TRAVELING OUT OF THE COUNTRY FOR A 6 MONTHS COURSE AND I WILL
NOT COME BACK TILL LATER IN THE YEAR. CONTACT THE COURIER SERVICE/SECURITY
COMPANY WITH THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION:
 
     YOUR FULL NAME:………………………....….....YOUR DELIVERY
ADDRESS:………................. REACHABLE PHONE NUMBER:………....……...COPY OF YOUR
IDENTITY...................... .........
 
     ASK THEM TO DELIVER YOUR PACKAGE TO YOUR ADDRESS. I HAVE PAID FOR THE
DELIVERING CHARGES AND INSURANCE FEE. THE ONLY MONEY YOU HAVE TO SEND TO
THEM IS THEIR SECURITY KEEPING FEE WHICH IS $98.00 US DOLLARS TO RECEIVE
YOUR PACKAGE WHICH WILL BE DELIVERED TO YOU BY A DIPLOMAT WHO HAVE BEEN PAID
BY ME.
 
     BELOW IS THE NAME AND EMAIL ADDRESS OF THE COURIER SERVICE/SECURITY
COMPANY AGENT WHO IS TO DELIVER THE BOX TO YOU:
     MR. ALEX JAKE
     alexjakes@gmx.com
 
     PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU SEND THIS NEEDED INFORMATION'S TO THE COURIER
SERVICE/SECURITY COMPANY AGENT WITH THE ADDRESS GIVEN TO YOU.
NOTE THE FEDEX COMPANY HERE DON'T KNOW THE CONTENTS OF THE BOX FOR I
REGISTERED IT AS A DAMAGE JEANS AND TEXTILE MATERIALS RETURNING TO THE
RETAILER.
 
     NOTE: THE COMPANY DON'T KNOW THAT THE CONTENTS OF THE BOX IS MONEY.
     PLEASE DON'T LET THEM TO KNOW THAT THE CONTENTS OF THE BOX IS MONEY TO
AVOID THEM FROM DELAYING THE DELIVERY OF THE $1.5 MILLION USD.
     TRY TO CONTACT HIM AS SOON AS POSSIBLE TO AVOID INCREASING THE SECURITY
KEEPING FEE AND ALSO GIVE THEM YOUR CONTACT DELIVERING ADDRESS TO AVOID ANY
MISTAKE ON THE DELIVERING. LET ME KNOW IMMEDIATELY YOU RECEIVE YOUR FUNDS.
 
     YOURS SINCERELY,
     MRS.MERCY BAILEY.
     SECRETARY.

Anti-fraud resources: