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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: Bill Lawrence <sillimanp@gmail.com>
Reply-To: billlawrence260@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 2020 14:58:50 +0100
Subject: Business Opportunity

Dearest Friend,

I know this message will come to you as a surprise but I will use this
medium to
introduce myself to you.

I'm Bill Lawrence, staff of Barclays Bank London, United Kingdom,I am
Group Chief
Financial Officer and Asset Management,I am pleased to get across to
you for a very urgent and profitable business proposal which I believe
will profit the both of us after completion,I contacted you after
going through your profile that you might be capable of handling this
business transaction without betrayal,There is this client of mine Mr.
Roger Ian Wright a US businessman, founder of a Sao Paulo-based
investment company and Owner of STAR PETROLEUM LLC DUBAI made a fixed
deposit with my bank in January 2009 for 36 calendar months, valued at
(US$15,500,000) Fifteen Million,Five Hundred Thousand United State
Dollars Only.The due date for this deposit contract was the 2nd of
April 2012,Mr. Roger Ian Wright, his wife and his two children all
died in plane crash Sao Paulo Brazil.

You can find below the links pertaining to this accident
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/05/23/2579118.htm?section=justin

All attempts to trace his next of kin were fruitless, My position here
at my office requires me to investigate and provide the Next of Kin or
Business Partner, I therefore made further investigations and
discovered that Mr. Roger Ian Wright did not declare any next of kin
or relation in all his official documents including his deposit
documents in my bank, According to the United Kingdom Law the money
will be reverted to the ownership of the UK government after 12 years
if nobody applies to claim the fund,To prevent this from happening I
have decided to seek your assistance to have you stand as his Business
Associate so that the said fund (US$15.5 Million USD) would be
released in your name as the next of kin and paid into your account,
All documents and proof that will have you claim this funds without
stress will be forwarded to you upon your response to this mail.

Your immediate response will be appreciated.

Sincerely Yours
Bill Lawrence.

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