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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: "Mr. John Mark," <fongalex514@gmail.com>
Reply-To: "Mr. John Mark," <mr.johnmark22@hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 2015 07:05:07 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Dear Friend,




Dear Friend,

My name is Mr. John Mark, I'm the new appointed Postman of Regular Mail Post Office branched at Akpakpa Benin-Republic. I assumed this office on 1th, september, 2015.

On going through the files of the previous records of this office, I discovered that there are six parcels containing ATM cards each one attached with email address of the owner on it. The former appointee of this office (Alhaji Ahmed Musa Jr) failed to carry out the delivery as it was instructed and programmed. And one of his reasons for not carrying out the delivery was that you have not provided your postal address to him for the completion of the delivery. According to the content recorded in each file, the ATM card was deposited by one Senior Evangelist Mathew Peterson who died two years back. On the statement he wrote on the list, he stated that each of the aforementioned ATM cards contains $1.5 million dollars USD and he found your email addresses without your names in the internet. The rest of the five email addresses are listed below should case you are interested in asking them if this is real; or if they have received the same message as you did.

Meanwhile, I am making the arrangement of posting the six parcels including through Regular Mail Post Office to each of you. So, I want you to provide your postal address and your personal information as listed below:

1. Your Full Name:
2. Your Postal Address:
3. Your Country and current City:
4. Your Telephone Number:
5. Your Country's Postal Code:

Don't be surprise in case this email message appears in your mail box as "undisclosed recipients" because I am sending the same message of the same content to six of you at the same time.

I went to our head office at Akpakpa Cotonou-,Benin Republic and reported the issue of the discovered six ATM cards in my office and they verified it and gave me the order to carry out the delivery immediately after you send the $58 for the Postal Stamp of the parcel. We would have deducted the fee out of the main fund but as you are clearly aware that we don't have any access to the pin code of the ATM card until you receive it and open it by yourself. It's an illegal act for us to open the pin code ourselves. So, you should send the $58 today for the Postal Stamp. Send the $58 through Western Union to the name as listed below:

Receiver's Name: Udogwu Maniak
Country: Benin Republic
City: Cotonou
Text Question: Honest
Answer: Trust
Amount: $68

Then, provide the following information after sending the $100:
Sender's Name:
Sender's Address:
MTCN or Reference Number:

All the best,

Mr. John Mark,
New Appointee of Regular Mail Post Office
Cotonou Benin-Republic
Email..mr.johnmark22@hotmail.com

Anti-fraud resources: