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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. Jessica Wilfred." (may be fake)
Reply-To: <bernard_hills101@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Sun, 26 Nov 2017 20:56:11 +0100
Subject: RE: YOUR COMPENSATED FUNDS WORTH $2,500,000.00

Dear Friend ,
How are you today? Hope all is well with you and your family? I hope this mail meets you in a perfect condition. You may not understand why this mail came to you. But if you do not remember me, you might have received an email from me in the past regarding a multi-million-dollar business proposal which we never concluded.
I am much delighted and privileged to contact you again, after this long time, it takes faith and courage to remember old friends and at the same time, to show gratitude to them despite circumstances that disrupted our transaction ultimately not working out as we projected then.
The good news is that I'm happy to inform you about my success in getting those funds transferred under the cooperation of a new partner from Cayman Islands, I take this liberty to inform you that the transaction we were pursuing together finally worked out and I am contacting you to let you know the present situation.
I must inform you also that I am presently in Cayman Islands on business negotiations and establishment now. With a sincere heart, I have raised and signed an International Cashier's Bank Draft of $2,500,000.00 [Two Million Five Hundred Thousand  Dollars] only in your name as COMPENSATION for your dedication, humanity and contribution, as it were. I will be very busy here at the moment because of the investment projects that me and my new partner are having at hand.
As much as I thought, I kept the certified bank draft to a private finance/security company to hand over to you as soon as you make contact with them.
Contact the finance office director immediately you receive this message for further information on how to get your cheque, for I have conscience as a human being, I really appreciated your tremendous effort and contribution to make things workout in retrospect.
His name is: Mr. Bernard Hills.
His e-mail is: bernard_hills101@yahoo.com.hk
Therefore, you should send him your full Name and telephone number/your address where you want him to send the draft to you.
He is waiting to hear from you so that he can ship the I.C.B.D to your Home or Office address as you may direct.
Mrs. Jessica Wilfred.
CONTACT MY SECRETARY :(bernard_hills101@yahoo.com.hk)

Anti-fraud resources: