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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: "MR. PAUL. SMITH" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mr_paulsmith1@hotmail.com>
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 2014 01:33:45 +0100
Subject: ATTENTION GOOD NEWS

ATTENTION GOOD NEWS
 
IN REGARD TO YOUR ATM MASTER CARD PACKAGE WITH U.P.S I RECEIVED AN EMAIL ALERT FROM UPS IN REGARD TO YOUR PACKAGE WHICH HAVE BEEN WITH THEM FOR TWO WEEKS NOW AND THE INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING AGENT IN CHARGE PLANNED TO RETURN YOUR PACKAGE TO THE FEDERAL MINISTRY OF FINANCE OF NIGERIA. THE TOTAL AMOUNT IN YOUR ATM MASTER CARD CONTAIN IS $4.5 MILLION USD AND THIS INCLUDE INTEREST RATE UP TILL DATE.
 
THE MASTER CARD WAS PROGRAMMED TO HAVE ACCESS GLOBALLY WHICH YOU CAN MAKE WITHDRAW OR TRANSACTION IN ANY PART OF THE WORLD.
 
IT SEEMS YOU DON'T WANT TO SHOW ANY SERIOUSNESS TOWARDS THE SHIPMENT OF YOUR PACKAGE THAT WHY HE WANT TO RETURN IT AND HE NEED PERMISSION FROM ME FIRST BEFORE HE WILL RETURN THE PACKAGE.
 
I ORDER HIM TO STOP AND I ALSO ASSURE HIM THAT I WILL MAKE SURE THE CHARGE FEE REQUIRED I ENABLE THE SHIPMENT FEE WHICH IS $120.00 WILL BE PAID AND THIS WILL BE THE LAST FEE REQUIRED FROM YOU. IN REGARD TO YOUR ATM MASTER CARD PACKAGE WHICH WORTH $4,500,000,00 MILLION USD I WILL HELP YOU AND MAKE SURE YOU RECEIVE IT AND MY INVESTIGATION SHOWS YOU HAVE SPENT A LOT RECENTLY IN REGARD TO THIS PACKAGE AND THIS WILL BE THE LAST FEE.
 
REMEMBER YOU HAVE SPENT A LOT TOWARDS THIS PACKAGE ONCE THE CHARGE FEE REQUIRED NOW IS PAID SHIPMENT WILL COMMENCE AND YOU WILL RECOVER ALL YOU HAVE SPENT RECENTLY. THE CHARGE FEE REQUIRED NOW IS NOT MUCH SO YOU WILL BE ABLE TO AFFORD THE LAST FEE NEEDED WHICH IS $120 ONLY MY ADVICE TO YOU IS TO GO AHEAD AND SEND THE CHARGE FEE VIA WESTERN UNION.
 
THE WESTERN UNION INFORMATION BELOW BELONG TO OLAIYA EMEKA THE BRANCH MANAGER OF UPS INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING DEPARTMENT NIGERIA.
 
THIS IS THE INFO TO SEND THE $120.00 VIA WESTERN UNION OR MONEY GRAM AS BELOW RECEIVER NAME: NLEDO OBINNA LOCATION: LAGOS-NIGERIA TEXT QUESTION: OK ANSWER: OK AMOUNT: $120.00 MTC NUMBER SENDERS NAME: YOUR SHIPMENT WILL COMMENCE ONCE THE CHARGE FEE IS PAID THIS WEEK. AND AS SOON AS YOU MADE THE PAYMENT GET BACK TO ME WITH THE SENDER NAME? MTC NUMBER? FULL SENDER ADDRESS USED? TEXT QUESTION? ANSWER?  AWAIT YOUR REPLY AND REMEMBER SHIPMENT WILL COMMENCE THIS WEEK AND IT WILL TAKE ONLY 72 HOURS TO GET THE PACKAGE SHIPPED TO YOU. HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY BEST REGARDS, MR. PAUL. SMITH CALL: +234-8089738500 E-mail: mr_paulsmith1@hotmail.com
 

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