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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: AMBASSADOR MICHEAL RAYNOR <ambassadormichealraynor@yahoo.pt>
Reply-To: AMBASSADOR MICHEAL RAYNOR <ambassadormichealraynor@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2014 00:21:12 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: Urgent attention:Beneficairy,





 Urgent attention:Beneficairy,

HOW ARE YOU TODAY WITH YOUR FAMILY ?
I'm Michael Raynor From u.s embassy Benin Republic, i know that this email may look strange to you but i will explain this the way you will understand it.

I was newly appointed as ambassador to Benin Republic and i wanted to inform you that i saw your name in one of the  files here with some payment details which you made to receive your fund but i don't know what happened that old Ambassador  Mr James Knight,,money gram director,western union director ,UBA BANK,federal ministry of juctice and others  who left this office did not allowed you to received your fund.  I decided to write you if you may still be interested to receive your fund through the power of this office and i know that something went wrong or maybe they requested so much money from you which you are unable to pay but i will try my best as a new appointed ambassador to Benin Republic and i will make sure that you receive your fund through a consignment this time around to avoid any story again.

I was so shocked when i saw your  name here and you are very lucky that he did not cleans away your name which means that i can still locate you through your email address and i'm so sorry for whatever has happened and how much you spent in the past . but be rest assured that i will never disappoint you like others did and all i needed from you now is to re-confirm your contact address and your bank details where you will like to receive your fund and all it will cost you is $75 usd  to renew your Certificate of  ownership with your payment file,and you are paying the $75 usd to the attorney who will do the work so that i can put my signature to enable you receive your $4.5m after all the delays.

I will wait to hear from you as soon as you receive this email and this is the payment details where you should send the $75 usd through Money Gram or western union  today.

Receiver Name ...............Jim Udo
Country ............................Benin Republic
City................................Cotonou
Amount ...........................$75 usd
Question.........................God Bless
Answer.......................... America
Code ..........................00229
Mtcn Number..............................
Sender' Name..................................

Waiting for your urgent response,

MICHEAL RAYNOR.
The New United States Ambassador to the Republic of Benin

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