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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: "Mrs. Julie Williams" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrs.julie_w@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Sat, 25 Jul 2015 13:31:30 +0200
Subject: ATTENTION BENEFICIARY...

ATTENTION BENEFICIARY,

NOW WE HAVE ARRANGED YOUR PAYMENT OF ( $2.5M USD)THROUGH SWIFT CARD
PAYMENT CENTER ASIA PACIFIC, THIS CARD CENTER WILL SEND YOU AN ATM
CARD WHICH YOU WILL USE TO WITHDRAW YOUR MONEY IN ANY ATM MACHINE IN
ANY PART OF THE WORLD, BUT THE MAXIMUM IS FIFTEEN THOUSAND, FIVE
HUNDRED UNITED STATES DOLLARS PER DAY.SO IF YOU LIKE TO RECEIVE YOUR
FUND IN THIS WAY,PLEASE LET ME KNOW BY CONTACTING FINANCIAL BANK ATM
PAYMENT DEPARTMENT AND ALSO SEND THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION AS LISTED
BELOW.

1.FULL NAME...........
2.ADDRESS WERE YOU WANT THEM TO SEND THE ATM CARD...........
3.MOBILE PHONE NUMBER...........
4.FAX PHONE...............
5.YOUR AGE AND CURRENT OCCUPATION............
6.ATTACH COPY OF YOUR IDENTIFICATION............

HOWEVER,KINDLY CONTACT THE BELOW PERSON WHO IS IN POSITION TO RELEASE
YOUR ATM PAYMENT CARD. MRS. SARAH ESTRADA DIRECTOR GENERAL, ATM
PAYMENT DEPARTMENT EMAIL: (mrssarahestrada@aol.com) THE ATM CARD
PAYMENT CENTER HAS BEEN MANDATED TO ISSUE OUT YOUR PAYMENT AND YOU
HAVE TO STOP ANY FURTHER COMMUNICATION WITH ANY OTHER PERSON(S) OR
OFFICE(s) TO AVOID ANY HITCHES IN RECEIVING YOUR PAYMENT.NOTE THAT
BECAUSE OF IMPOSTORS, WE HEREBY ISSUED YOU OUR CODE OF CONDUCT, WHICH
IS (ATM-0411) SO YOU HAVE TO INDICATE THIS CODE WHEN CONTACTING THE
CARD CENTER BY USING IT AS YOUR SUBJECT.

REGARDS
Mrs. Julie Williams

Anti-fraud resources: