419 Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam (2006-01)

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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:

An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
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:
- ",500,000" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- "economic and financial crime commission" (This name is often mentioned in money recovery scams (re-scam): the real EFCC does not contact victims to offer to get their money back because that is near impossible. )
- "(efcc)" (This name is often mentioned in money recovery scams (re-scam): the real EFCC does not contact victims to offer to get their money back because that is near impossible. )
- "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- "courier company" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
- "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- barrister.henrygreen@yandex.ru (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: =?utf-8?b?Ik1yLiBBbnTDs25pbyBHdXRlcnJlcyIgPGluZm9AY28ub3JnPg==?=
Reply-To: barrister.henrygreen@yandex.ru
Date: Wed, 21 Jun 2017 16:32:56 -0400
Subject: THE UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS CONGRATULATIONS WE PRESENT TO YOU YOUR
AWAITING CHECK

THE UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL OVERSIGHT SERVICES=
UNITED NATIONS COMPENSATION IN CONJUNCTION WITH FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF UNIT=
ED STATES OF AMERICA IN AFFILIATION WITH WORLD BANK. OUR REF: U.N/WBO/042UK=
/2018 NEW YORK Congratulations Beneficiary darby@harwoodartcenter.org [1]Un=
ited Nation goal to eradicate global poverty before 2020. [2]Financial supp=
ort to individuals,family and organization with bright purpose to fund thei=
r project. [3]World,community,development. [4]Your email was submitted by t=
he all world email providers and was chosen through balloting system. [5]Th=
e beneficiary will sponsor the claim charges as regards the claim of your f=
und. This is to intimate you of a very important information which will be =
of a great help to redeem you from all the difficulties you have been exper=
iencing in getting your long over due payment due to excessive demand for m=
oney from you by both corrupt Bank officials and Courier Companies after wh=
ich your fund remain unpaid to you. I'm Mr. Ant=F3nio Guterres Secretary-Ge=
neral and Director of international affairs in the United Nation (UN). It m=
ay interest you to know that reports have reached our office by so many cor=
respondences on the uneasy way which people like you are treated by Various=
Banks and Courier Companies Diplomat(s) across Europe to Africa and Asia L=
ondon UK, and we have decided to put a STOP to that and that is why I was a=
ppointed to handle your transaction. We have been having a meeting for the =
passed 7 months which ended 2 days ago, The National Central Bureau of Inte=
rpol enhanced by the United Nations and The National Security Agency (NSA) =
have successfully passed a mandate to the current president of United State=
s his Excellency the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces P=
resident Donald Trump,to boost the exercise of clearing all foreign debts o=
wed to Foriegners and citizens of United States and Compensate all that hav=
e lost their hard earned money to Fraudsters in general(wordwide). This ema=
il is to all the people that have been scammed in any part of the world, TH=
E UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS have agreed to compensate them with the sum o=
f US$8,500,000 ( Eight Million Five Hundred United State Dollars) This incl=
udes every foreign contractors that may have not received their contract su=
m, and people that have had an unfinished transaction or international busi=
nesses that failed due to Government problems,Contracts Sum, Lottery/Gambli=
ng etc.Your name and email was in the list submitted by our Monitoring Team=
s of Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) and the Federal Bureau =
of Investigation (FBI) observers and this is why we are contacting you, thi=
s have been agreed upon and have been signed. You are advised to contact Ba=
rrister Henry Green, As he is our Special Representative and Head of the Un=
ited Nations Office for West Africa (UNOWA). contact him immediately for yo=
ur CHEQUE worth the total sum of US$8,500,000 ( Eight Million Five Hundred =
United State Dollars) This funds are in DRAFT Form for security purpose ok?=
So he will send it to you via DHL courier company and you can clear the CH=
EQUE in any bank of your choice in your country. Contact Him immediately fo=
r your cheque Delivery with the following information. 1. Full name: 2. You=
r Country: 3. Address where you want him to send the cheque(P.O Box not acc=
eptable) 4. Telephone Number: 5. Fax Number: 6. Marital Status: 7. Occupati=
on: 8. Sex: 9. Age: 10. Passport : Person to Contact: Barrister Henry Green=
(contact agent) Email: barrister.henrygreen@yandex.ru Phone Number: +23470=
30855075 Give him your File Reference (RE-0017-UN) and you are free to cont=
act him via telephone number, it will be better to call him and once you do=
that he will ask you of your File Reference number which is (RE-0017-UN), =
this file reference number is very important and gives him access to get th=
rough to your file and email you back quickly once he confirms your email a=
nd your delivery details. Thanks for adhering to this instructions and once=
again accept our congratulations. Good luck and kind regards, Making the w=
orld a better place, Mr. Ant=F3nio Guterres Secretary-General United Nation=
s (UN).... http://www.un.org/sg/

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam