419 scam: "Claudia Smith"<ladyclaudasmith@gmail.com> You need to Know this.

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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:
- "money laundering" ("anti-terrorist", "anti-money laundering" or "drug-free" certificates are a common way for criminals in fake lottery scams and other Advance Fee scams to get you to send money to them. There are no such certificates in the real banking world. )
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: "Claudia Smith" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <ladycludiasmith@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 22 Feb 2015 16:09:46 +0200
Subject: You need to Know this.

I am Claudia Smith, I work at the funds Remittance Control Unit of Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs (HMRC), my office is responsible for every international transfer from the united kingdom, both incoming and outgoing payments, we control all international Forex payments, we also red flag any suspicious funds (money laundering or terrorist funding), unfortunately the funds transfer you are expecting from one of our local Bank here in the United Kingdom has been Red flagged by us HMRC, this means that you would never receive these funds in your account on its Red Flag status. I am aware that you have paid a lot of money to the bank and government officials for your funds to be released and credited into your account, but still your funds are still pending and more money is still being demanded from you, If I am right you are currently expected to pay thousands again for your funds to be released. The honest truth is that on the current Red status of your transfer, we have frozen the funds and no amount you
Please note that I am informing you about this situation unofficially so I expect you to be grateful and keep this information a secret between you and me, not a word of what I have told you to anyone, especially the bank officials and your business partner, what I have done now is a bridge of code of conduct of HMRC. I am going to help you get your funds released to you, but I need you to trust me like you have never trusted anyone before. Meanwhile, before we proceed I need to know from you if you accept my help, if you confirm to me that you require my help, in my next email I would tell you why your transfer was Red flagged and what needed to be done.
The reason why I was compelled to inform you about this situation was because I can’t watch you spend your money without getting results, I wait to hear from you soonest.
Yours,
Claudia Smith.

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Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam