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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: "Homeland Security" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <homelandsecdept@msn.com>
Date: Sun, 23 Oct 2016 20:54:17 +0100
Subject: Attention to you: do read this notice and get back asap

DHS Notice

From: US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 
Office of  New York City: SPECIAL  AGENT
File #: ATC
202/DHS10-10010
Reff: DHS1/016NYC/0A-01B13

This is Mr. Angel M Melendez, Special Agent of Department of Homeland Security.
We know that you have not received your fund from Africa. We have finally
cashed your $4.7Million abandoned long-lost Check confirming to be your own
Compensation funds. We've cashed the money and we decided to boxed the
money to avoid expiry of the Check because it has stayed long in our custody
searching for your contact to reach you. After our investigation that we discovered
that the money is not an illegal payment. Do reconfirm your full address via this
my personal email: angel.melendez@msn.com for urgent and special attention
.

BASED ON THIS PERSONAL DISCOVERY, I AM CONTACTING YOU NOW TO LET
YOU KNOW THAT WITH MY POSITION AND POWER AS THE SPECIAL AGENT OF
US DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, I CAN ASSIST YOU TO LEGALLY
CLEAR YOUR CONSIGNMENT FUND, BUT YOU MUST AGREE WITH THE FOLLOWING
CONDITIONS. BECAUSE I HAVE CALLED OUR OFFICE IN WASHINGTON DC FROM
NEW YORK, WHO HAS BEEN INTERCEPTING ALL YOUR TELEPHONE CALLS, WITH
THE HELP OF MTN, TIGO, VODAFONE AND AIRTEL NETWORK BENIN. I ALSO
RECEIVED SOME INFORMATION FROM OUR OFFICE IN BENIN REPUBLIC AND
NIGERIA, ABOUT YOUR EMAILS, THAT YOU HAVE BEEN DEALING AND SENDING
MONEY TO PEOPLE IN BENIN, GHANA, SOUTH AFRICA, TOGO, AND NIGERIA, WHO
CLAIMS TO BE IN-CHARGE OF YOUR FUND RELEASE.  YOU ARE ALSO DEALING
WITH A BANK, AND OTHER NAMES WHICH I AM STILL WAITING TO BE FORWARDED
TO ME FROM OUR OFFICE IN WASHINGTON DC WHO HAVE MONITORED ALL
YOUR DEALINGS WITH THIS HOODLUM. YOU ARE ADVISED TO HENCE FORT STOP
FURTHER DEALINGS WITH ALL THE ABOVE MENTIONED PEOPLE UNTIL WE
COMPLETE OUR INVESTIGATION. BECAUSE YOUR DEALING WITH THEM IS TERMED
AS ILLEGAL TRANSACTION.

Do reconfirm the below information:

Full name:............................
Address:...............................
Country:................................
Phone Number...................
Your Occupation..............
Your Age:.............................
Marital Status....................
Your nearest Airport......
A copy of your ID..........

Your fund will be released to you as soon as we receive the above required
information for onward processing. Have a good day

Sincerely yours,

Mr. Angel M Melendez (Special Agent)

Department of Homeland Security
76A W 125th St, New York, NY 10027
Tel #: 800.276.3314
Fax #: 800.730.6871

Anti-fraud resources: