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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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "Sir. Terry Leahy" <test@contact.com>
Reply-To: sir.terry_l@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2014 16:19:55 +0530
Subject: Salutation

Salutation:

I am pleased to solicit your sincere and urgent assistance over this matter, My name is (Sir Terry Leahy).I am seeking for your co-operation and devotion in building a company or Real Estate in your country, I planned to invest with your 100% assistance. However, I do not know any investor in your country who I may trust to handle the business for me as I am a foreigner and will likely travel back to my country as soon as formal agreement is signed and the funds invested in a viable business of your choice. I apologize for any inconveniences if this is not your field of profession. However, I need an experienced personnel to assist me to set up this project successfully.

I estimated a huge sum of money for this project, which I will transfer as soon as possible immediately our discussion is positive and sealed. On the resumption of this project, you will be a member of the governing board as Director of works and project Management. I am prepared to give you 10% of the total sum before investment and 30% of the profit realized for 5 years. I will inform my attorney to prepare a memorandum of understanding which we should sign on my arrival.

Your immediate reply will be highly appreciated and I shall give you more detailed information concerning this project. Please if you have any interest for this project, correspond through my private email address: sir.terry_l@yahoo.com.hk for us to discuss further.

Respectfully,
Sir. Terry Leahy

Anti-fraud resources: