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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: "Barr. Sam George" <swsolomonwilliam76@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mrsamgeorge@live.com
Date: Sat, 12 Jul 2014 16:27:27 +0200
Subject: I AM THE NEW APPOINTED MANAGER, REGULAR MAIL POST OFFICE, PORTO-NOVO-BENIN.


Please Pay Attention:

I’m the new appointed Postman of Regular Mail Post Office branched at Porto
Novo-Benin. I assumed this office on 12th, May, 2014. On going through the
files of the previous records of this office, I discovered that there are
six parcels containing ATM cards each one attached with an email address of
the owner on it. The former appointee of this office (Alhaji Ahmed Musa Jr)
failed to carry out the delivery as it was instructed and programmed. And
one of his reasons for not carrying out the delivery was that you have not
provided your postal address to him for the completion of the delivery.
According to the content recorded in each file, the ATM card was deposited
by one Senior Evangelist Mathew Peterson who died two years back. On the
statement he wrote on the list, he stated that each of the aforementioned
ATM cards contains $1,550,000.00 and he found your email addresses without
your names in the internet. The rest of the five email addresses are listed
below should case you are interested in asking them if this is real; or if
they have received the same message as you did.

Meanwhile, I am making the arrangement of posting the six parcels through
Regular Mail Post Office to all of you. So, I want you to provide your
postal address and your personal information as listed below:

1. Your Full Name.
2. Your Postal Address.
3. Your Country and current City.
4. Your Telephone Number.
5. Your Country’s Postal Code.

Don’t be surprised in case this email message appears in your mail box as
“undisclosed recipients” because I am sending the same message of the same
content to six of you at the same time.

I went to our head office at Cotonou-Benin and reported the issue of the
discovered six ATM cards in my office and they verified it and gave me the
order to carry out the delivery immediately after you send the $50 for the
Postal Stamp of the parcel. We would have deducted the fee out of the main
fund but as you are clearly aware that we don’t have any access to the pin
code of the ATM card until you receive it and open it yourself. It’s an
illegal act for us to open the pin code ourselves. So, you should send the
$50 today for the Postal Stamp. Send the $50 through Western Union or
MoneyGram to my secretary Kenneth Ezechi as listed below:

1. Receiver’s Name: Kenneth Ezechi.
2. Country: Republic of Benin.
3. City: Porto Novo.
4. Text Question: Good?.
5. Answer: Yes.
6. Amount: $50.

Then, provide the following information after sending the $50:

1. Sender’s Name?.
2. Sender’s Address?.
3. MTCN or Reference Number?.

Call me on: +229-9805-9689 once the payment is made through Western Union
or Money Gram.

All the best,
Barr. Sam George,
New Appointee of Regular Mail Post Office, Porto Novo-Benin.

Anti-fraud resources: