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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: alex <alex@mail.remanso.ba.gov.br>
Reply-To: <bnmcc33@hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 19:58:49 +0100
Subject: E-mail date: 26 Jan, 2015

Hello,
Greetings to you, I have been trying to reach you since the beginning
of the year without success, I do not know if you received proposal I
sent to you? I intended sending you a fax but could not, Well I am
writing you again via internet. I'm based in Europe; I work with a
financial institution.

I have the opportunity of transferring substantial and vital
information to you from my office. Few years back a wealthy contractor
who is now deceased and fortunately you have the same SURNAME with the
depositor. Considering the fact that the depositor has no traceable
relative who will eventually apply for the claim, I decided to contact
you after many years of his demise so that you can apply for a claim
"WITH MY ASSISTANCE" and take custody of the funds for our mutual
benefit. I will not mention the amount of money which runs into millions
of US$Dollars presently neither will I mention the name of the firm I
work with in Europe until I am sure you have agreed to deal. I trust you
will understand the need for such precautions.

Please note; in 2008, I succeeded in claiming $13-million from the same
financial institution with the help of fellow American, but by the time
I went to receive my share of the money from her a week after the money
was released into her account, she had changed her home address and
moved out of California to another state and till date I am still
searching for her, but because it was a deal and a confidential matter I
could not seek legal action against her or even inform the authorities
regarding the situation. So for safety reason and benefit of both of us
to ensure that I do not make the same mistake, I will have to meet with
you physically for discussion before we can proceed with the deal. I
wait to hear from you.

Yours truly,

Brian McCauley.
F/Tel #: 206 202 0765
Email: bmmccyy1@aol.com

Anti-fraud resources: