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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: MAGNUS DAVID <m.david@terra.com>
Date: Thu, 22 May 2014 09:30:00 +0100
Subject: Hello my good friend,


*Hello my good friend, I pray that this email reaches you in the best of
health. In this good Year, I present my best wishes to you and your family
with blessings, goodness and mercy. This letter may come to you as a
surprise due to the fact that we have not yet met. The message could be
strange but it's real if you pay some attention to it. I want to notify
you about it at least for the sake of your integrity. In a brief
introduction, My name is Arnaud Magnus David. I am the Director of
Operations with Continental Bank-Bénin. I have a very interesting
transaction to discuss with you.The business under discussion has to do
with our late Customer, who is a nationality of your country and was
employed as a Consultant with (SONACOP) oil Company in Cotonou Republic of
Benin. I managed to get your contact details through the Internet search
because time is of importance to it and I am desperately looking for a
person to assist me pull this money out from the bank before our corrupt
government officials will confiscate the money and use it for their selfish
interest. On Thursday, December 25, 2003, the late customer and his wife
including their only daughter were involved in Air-Crash near the Atlantic
Ocean in Cotonou suburb. (May their soul rest in peace) Since then I have
made several inquiries to the Embassy in a bid to locate any relation of
the deceased, All attempts to reach the next of kin to the deceased has
been futile as he had no family here in Benin Republic. Hence my decision
to contact you, I want to go into partnership with you, the nature of your
business is completely irrelevant to this transaction as all I need from
you is an assurance that my interest will be fully protected once the fund
is transferred to your account. The late customer made a numbered time
(fixed) deposited for twelve calendar and his account with our bank accrues
to about (Seven Million, Five hundred and Fifty- Two Thousand US Dollars)
(USDM7.552,000.00), According to the Benin Law, at the expiration of (11
years) the money will revert to the ownership of the Benin government if
nobody applies to claim the funds. I discovered the funds transaction file
in my office, so I decided to contact you for the claim so you can receive
the funds now that the Economic Community of West African States has
approved the immediate release of all pending Contracts and Inheritance
funds. My proposal is, I will like you as a foreigner to apply as the next
of kin to the late customer as you have the same Nationality with him so
that the fruits of this old man's labor will not get into the hands of some
corrupt government officials who will later use the money to sponsor war in
Africa and kill innocent citizens in the search for political power/seat.
Note that there will be no problem at all, my position here guarantees the
successful execution of this transaction within 7 Banking days and the
money will be transferred into your account, then I will come over to your
country for us to share in the ratio of 50% for you and 50% for me. This is
very simple, I will like you to reply immediately so that I can send you
the Text of application which you will apply to the bank as the next of kin
to the Late Customer and I will use my good position here as the Director
of Operations to make sure that the application is approved for immediate
payment into your account. This partnership will be done with total
confidentiality in a climate of trust and sincerity because I will not like
in a situation where the funds will be transferred to your account, then
you turn to sit on my own shear of the total funds. If you are willing to
partner with me in trust and sincerity, you reply as soon as possible so we
can get it done at once.You can view the BBC web-news for the tragedy:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3348109.stm
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3348109.stm> Send me your personal
information, both your private phone so I can be able to call you as soon
as possible. Waiting your urgent reply.Your friend and Partner,Director
Arnaud Magnus DavidCell; +229-6875-3075, *

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