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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: "U.S. Customs And Border Protection" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mickey.fish2@aol.com>
Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2014 10:41:36 -0600
Subject: YOUR ATM VISA CARD PAYMENT ON-HOLD BY US CUSTOMS Se

U.S. Customs And Border Protection
Office of Border Patrol
Ronald Reagan Building, Washington, D.C.
>From The Desk of: Michael J. Fisher
Chief of the Border Patrol
Web Page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_J._Fisher
http://www.cbp.gov/about/leadership/assistant-commissioners-office/border-patrol

Dear Beneficiary,


RE:ATM CARD PAYMENT PACKAGE ONHOLD

This message is from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol/ Monitoring Unit. I am
pleased to inform you that your ATM Card worth Ten Million, Five Hundred
Thousand United States Dollars (US$10.5m) sent from Nigeria as part of your
overdue payment/funds was returned to our office last week from Atlanta, Georgia
where it was held due to one unavailable document. According to information
reaching us, the ATM Card was returned due to your failure to pay the necessary
charges required by the delivery company to enable it pass through the security
agency.

However, after due investigation was made, we noticed that your ATM Card was
stopped and delay unnecessarily. Georgia office told us that your ATM Card has
no INTERNATIONAL DELIVERY PERMIT, that was why you are told to pay sum amount of
money which you did not pay. But after further investigation, it was very clear
that your ATM Card has the INTERNATIONAL DELIVERY PERMIT (IDP) attached to it
therefore you are no longer required to pay the money you were asked to pay. Now
the only money you are required to pay is $95 only billed for CUSTOMS AND BORDER
CLEARANCE CERTIFICATE to clear your file and receive your ATM Card devoid
further hindrance. Note that they will process the NIGERIA CUSTOMS AND BORDER
CLEARANCE CERTIFICATE and send it to us as soon as you send the money to them.

Get back to me with your full name, preferred delivery address and direct/cell
phone number then I will direct you where to send the $95 so that your ATM Card
will be delivered to your preferred address without any delay. If you're still
have interest in receiving your ATM Card, kindly get back to me.

You can also contact me here ( mickey.fish@aol.com )

Best Regards,

Michael J. Fisher
Chief of the Border Patrol

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