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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: "FBI OFFICE" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <fbiofficeu1@aol.com>
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 2019 19:33:41 +0200
Subject: FBI Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

 
Anti-Terrorist And Monetary Crimes Division
FBI Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Federal Bureau Of Investigation
J.Edgar Hoover Building
935 Pennsylvania Avenue, Nw
Washington, D.C. 20535-0001
 
ATTENTION: BENEFICIARY
 
This e-mail has been issued to you in order to Officially inform you  that we have completed an investigation on an International Payment in which was issued to you by International Lottery Company. With the help of our  newly developed technology (International Monitoring Network System) we discovered that your e-mail address was automatically selected by an  Online Balloting System,this has legally won you the sum of $2.4million USD from a Lottery Company outside the United States of America. During our  investigation we discovered that your e-mail won the money from an Online Balloting System and we have authorized this winning to be paid to you via INTERNATIONAL CERTIFIED BANK DRAFT.
 
Normally, it will take up to 5 business days for an INTERNATIONAL  CERTIFIED BANK DRAFT by your local bank. We have successfully notified this company on your behalf that funds are to be drawn from a registered  bank within the world winded, so as to enable you cash the check instantly without any delay, henceforth the stated amount of $2.4million USD has  been deposited with IMF.
We have completed this investigation and you are hereby approved to  receive the winning prize as we have verified the entire transaction to be Safe and 100% risk free, due to the fact that the funds have been deposited with IMF you will be required to settle the following bills directly to the Lottery Agent in-charge of this transaction whom is located in South Africa According to our discoveries, you were required to pay for the  following,
 
(1) Deposit Fee's ( IMF INTERNATIONAL CLEARANCE CERTIFICATE )
(2) Shipping Fee's ( This is the charge for shipping the Cashier's  Check to your home address)
 
The total amount for everything is $150.00 USD We have tried our possible  best to indicate that this $150.00 USD should be deducted from your winning prize but we found out that the funds have already been deposited to IMF and  cannot be accessed by anyone apart from you the winner, therefore you will be required to pay the required fee's to the Agent in-charge of this  transaction
In order to proceed with this transaction, you will be required to contact the agent in-charge ( Mrs.Georgina Rowland ) via e-mail. Kindly look below to find appropriate contact information:
 
CONTACT AGENT NAME: Mrs.Georgina Rowland
PHONE NUMBER: +1917-391-1894
Email; imfofficewa01@aol.com
 
You will be required to e-mail her with the following information:
FULL NAME:
ADDRESS:
CITY:
STATE:
ZIP CODE:
DIRECT CONTACT NUMBER:
OCCUPATION:
 
You will also be required to request Western Union or Money Gram  details on how to send the required $150.00 USD in order to immediately ship your prize of $2.4million USD via INTERNATIONAL CERTIFIED BANK DRAFT from IMF, also include the following transaction code in order for her to identify this transaction :EA2948-910.
 
This letter will serve as proof that the Federal Bureau Of Investigation is authorizing you to pay the required $150.00 USD ONLY to Mrs.Georgina Rowland via information in which he shall send to you,
 
Federal Bureau of Investigation F B I
Yours in Service,Christopher A. Wray,
Director Office of Public Affairs, F B I

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