419 scam: IC3 <alert@ic3.gov> Nigerian Scams Compensation Alert

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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:

An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
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.
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- filecomplaints@usa.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: IC3 <alert@ic3.gov>
Reply-To: "filecomplaints@usa.com" <filecomplaints@usa.com>
Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 02:28:10 +0000
Subject: Nigerian Scams Compensation Alert

<img data-src="https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSE96f77_Yn1zN3SFYdrf7TiSvz3sUUGYmX7I2j8wzKZW-_E4kJ" data-sz="f" name="rTsRSznbjb8JFM:" class="rg_i" jsaction="load:str.tbn" style="width: 330px; height: 152px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" src="https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSE96f77_Yn1zN3SFYdrf7TiSvz3sUUGYmX7I2j8wzKZW-_E4kJ">
<DIV>
<FONT size=3 color=#008000 face="Britannic Bold"><B>The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)</B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
 </DIV>
<DIV>
<FONT face="Century"><B> </B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<FONT face="Century"><B>This is to notify you that Nigerian Government is currently compensating Nigerian scam victims. Nigerian Government only accepts complaint from international law enforcement agents and regulatory agencies with jurisdiction and not from individuals, if you have not filed a complaint quickly file one now.</B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<FONT face="Century"><B>If you file a complaint with us, the information will be reviewed and forwarded to Nigerian Government for compensation.</B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<FONT face="Century"><B>Therefore, we request that you provide the following information when filing a complaint:</B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<FONT face="Century"><B> </B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<FONT face="Century"><B>Your name</B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<FONT face="Century"><B>Your country</B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<FONT face="Century"><B>Your telephone number</B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<FONT face="Century"><B>The name, the address, and telephone number of the individual or organization that defrauded you.</B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<FONT face="Century"><B>Specific details on how, why, and when you believe you were defrauded.</B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<FONT face="Century"><B> </B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<FONT face="Century"><B>Send details to:  </B></FONT><FONT color=#000080 face="Century"><B>filecomplaints@usa.com</B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<FONT color=#000080 face="Century"><B> </B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<FONT face="Century"><B> </B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<FONT face="Century"><B> </B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<FONT face="Century"><B>The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C).</B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<FONT face="Century"><B> </B></FONT></DIV>
</FONT>
</BODY></HTML>

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam