419 Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam (2006-01)

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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:

This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "00,000.00" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "united state of america" (this email uses bad English)
- "halifaxbanklondon@foxmail.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- "halifaxbanklondon@foxmail.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- +447045752800 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: Demola Odeyemi <demolao3@outlook.com>
Reply-To: <halifaxbanklondon@foxmail.com>
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 2014 09:16:42 +0000
Subject: Mr. James Crosby Chief Executive Officer; Halifax Investment Bank
London.

CODE :(TT5070HIBUK)
Reply to:halifaxbanklondon@foxmail.com

I am Mr. James Crosby the Chief Executive Officer, of Halifax Investment Bank London.

There is counter claims on your funds presently by one Mr. Jones Tsai, who is trying to make us believe that you are dead and even explained that you had an agreement with him, to help you in receiving your part payment of us$7,100,000.00 ( Seven Million One Hundred Thousand United State Of American Dollars And Zero Cents) only, kindly reconfirm to us, for your urgent release of the Premium immediately.

Mr. Tsai is expected in our office next week to defend the claim and to sign-out the fund to the account stated below,

Commerce Bank, USA.
account #: 6850111999
routing #: 031201360

Reconfirm the above information to avoid making payment to a wrong person.

Mr. James Crosby
Chief Executive Officer; Halifax Investment Bank London.
Email:halifaxbanklondon@foxmail.com
Tel: +44-70457-52800.

CC: Governor - HIBUK.
CC: Ministry of Finance
CC: Debt Management Office

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This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail if you have received this e-mail by mistake. E-mail transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or contain viruses. The sender therefore does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of this message, which arise as a result of e-mail transmission.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam