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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: "Federal Bureau of Investigation" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <brafab75@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2023 04:29:06 -0700
Subject: Re: Security Interception of Unsolicited Business Transaction

Anti-Terrorist and Monetary Crimes Division
Federal Bureau of Investigation
J. Edgar Hoover Building
935 Pennsylvania Avenue,
NW Washington, D.C., 20535-0001, USA.

Attn: Dear Sir/Madam,

We have gone through your Identification record and also the information We have verified many things about you based on the information we received from your bank. It has come to the attention of our Money Trafficking investigation department, that you are dealing with unauthorized individuals to whom you have sent money to on different occasions. After we contacted your bank it was confirmed that these unauthorized individuals are fake and they are working with a supposed UN Director who has been established as fake also, we want you to know that there are many unauthorized individuals who parade themselves as UN Directors with their syndicates home and abroad. Take precautionary measures henceforth. Just to let you know, you have been notified not to send any money to them again or listen to their instructions.

You have been advised that the only legitimate fund in your name is the 2.5 million US Dollars in the CitiBank, The said fund is awaiting adjudication and credit to your bank account, this fund is 2.5 million US Dollars. Contact CitiBank through the office of Mr. John Havens whom we have confirmed as legitimate and trustworthy so go ahead and pay for the security code to allow your fund to arrive in your bank account we are monitoring your transactions and our duty is to ensure that you receive your fund from CitiBank so you don't have anything to worry about as your payment is secured in the hands of Mr. John Havens and he will surely release your fund. We have mandated the Director of Citibank Mr. John Havens to release your fund once you pay for the code.

NOTE: Kindly contact the remittance director with the below information:
Bank Name: Citibank.
Mr. John Havens (Operation Manager)
Website: www.citibank.com
Email: info2citib@gmail.com

Contact the bank today and forward this message to them for processing of your payment/funds accordingly

Yours in Service,
Christopher A. Wray,
Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

Anti-fraud resources: