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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
- "first national bank" (not involved with lotteries)
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "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. )
- "required fee " (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "money gram" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "(ecowas)" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
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.
- wh747366@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr.Paul R.Slade," <".875.WWW."@leaf.ocn.ne.jp>
Reply-To: "Mr.Paul R.Slade," <wh747366@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 3 Aug 2017 18:13:07 +0900 (JST)
Subject: I am Mr. Paul R. Slade, the Chairman of First National Bank of
Illinois

From The Desk of Mr.Paul R.Slade,
Chairman of First National Bank of Illinois,
3256 Ridge Rd, Lansing, IL 60438, USA
Tel Phone Number: +1 {323} 344 0212

Urgent Attention:

I am Mr. Paul R. Slade, the Chairman of First National Bank of Illinois, United States of America. We are contacting you based on the instruction from Mrs. Nikki Haley, the U.S Ambassador to the United Nations, following their recent Extraordinary meeting held with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) regional leaders concerning settlement of Foreign Debts and finding ways to abolish governments stringent conditions imposed by some of their financial institutions prior to transfer foreigners inheritance and Prize funds.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and United Nations (UN) having watched these ugly developments and has come up with the following resolutions to compensate each foreigners whom were denied the opportunity of receiving their funds years back with the sum of USD850,000.00 and you are among the 257 persons listed to receive this compensation payment of US$850,000.00.

It might interest you to know that the total sum of $218,450,000.00 USD (TWO HUNDRED AND EIGHTEEN MILLION FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS ) was approved on behalf of the 257 individuals whom were opportune to receive this compensation payment including you,and we are contracted to split the payments to each beneficiaries. Be inform that all modalities regarding your fund release has been put in place with First National Bank of Illinois, besides, your fund has been made ready for transfer through our electronic transfer system and what we need from you now is to provide us with the bank account of your choice which you expect us to expedite the accreditation of your US$850,000.00 compensation.

Note, that in regards to the Patriot Act, which was adopted in response to the September 11,2001 terrorist attacks, also intended to strengthen U.S. measures to prevent, detect, and prosecute international money laundering and the financing of terrorism, you will be required to pay the sum of $198 for procurement of ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING CLEARANCE (AMLC) from IMF Resident office in Republic of Benin according to the demand of the U.S department of homeland Security. Here is the information to send the required fee through Money Gram or Walmart To Walmart:

Receivers Name....Arnulfo R. Valadez
Country.....United States
State/City:...Santa Maria, California
Amount To Send:.....$198.00 USD

Finally, we will commence the rectification of fund ownership on your behalf and proceed to transfer your compensation fund totaling the sum of US$850,000.00 direct to your bank account immediately you can forward the above required information to us and send the $198 to IMF Resident Office in Republic of Benin for procurement of the ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING CLEARANCE (AMLC). Have a wonderful day as we will be waiting for your timely response.You can call or text us at this number +1 {323} 344 0212

Yours Sincerely
Paul R. Slade (Chairman)
First National Bank of Illinois,
3256 Ridge Rd, Lansing, IL 60438, USA
REPLY TO: wh747366@gmail.com

Anti-fraud resources:

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