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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: "Meriwether O’Hara" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <o-meriwether@outlook.com>
Date: Thu, 7 Nov 2013 17:22:02 -0600
Subject: Urgent Attention..

My name is Meriwether O’Hara I worked as a senior Investigation Officer for Fraser International Probate and Genealogy Research. Our firm has been conducting world-class research for over 30 years, and has dealt with over 7,000 inheritance cases. Since 1991 alone, we have enabled our clients to inherit over $800m. We assist legal professionals in tracing and locating missing or unknown beneficiaries. The majority of our work arises from intestate estates where the deceased person has died without leaving a will. In these cases we trace the statutory next of kin of the deceased according to the Laws of Intestacy. Alternatively, we might work on the estate of a person who has died leaving a valid will but the whereabouts of the Executors, Trustees or beneficiaries may be unknown I worked as part of the team that covers America and Asian region. I have gone to great lengths to find your contact details through great personal endeavors and i believe we can work together.

Before my new assignment here in Texas about a year ago, i was working on a business deal in west africa to withdraw some consignments from a security company but was uncompleted due to my inability to locate any relatives of the late owner. I have been in contact with the security company and was just informed this morning that the withdrawal needs to be made before the end of November.

My reason for contacting you is very simple. I want to present you to the security company as the beneficiary of the consignments and change the deposit to your name. This can be done through a legal means with the service of an attorney. I find this possible for the fuller reasons that you bear the same last name with the owner making it a lot easier for you to put up a claim in that capacity. We will obtain all vital documents that would confer you the legal right to make this claim. I will provide you with all the information and guidance to enable you and I execute this transaction successfully. I have evaluated the risk analysis and there is none to you, as long as you maintain confidentiality.

I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of law. I will not fail to bring to your notice that this proposal is hitch-free and that you should not entertain any fears. I must withhold more about this transaction until I receive a call from you confirming receipt of this letter. Once secured communication has been established between us, detailed clarifications will be dealt with, such as what each party stand to benefit, time scale and procedures.

I look forward to a receiving your email.

Yours sincerely

Meriwether O’Hara

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