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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: Paul dan smith <pauldansmith20@gmail.com>
Reply-To: pauldsmith46@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 8 Apr 2023 15:50:29 +0200
Subject: If you are interested, please respond to me for more details


Dear Sir/ Madam,

I hope this email meets you peacefully. It took me time to summon the
courage to email you considering the sensitive nature of this transaction
and my involvement. But I believe the best results in life are when tried.
Not trying is the worst failure ever recorded on earth.

I am the principal attorney and founder of Smith & Smith Associates. I am
contacting you today in respect to an unclaimed “permanent life insurance
policy” in the amount US$12,820,000 with a reputable bank here in Europe.
Unfortunately, my client left no WILL before his death.

I ask for your consent to be in partnership with me for the claim of this
policy benefit . If you permit me to add your name to the policy, all
proceeds will be processed on your behalf under a very legitimate framework
and immediately transferred to your account in your country after agreement
as endorsed by the two of us. I wish to point out that I want 10% of this
money to be shared among charity organizations while the remaining 90% will
be shared equally between us.

If you are interested, please respond to me for more details

Yours in Service

Paul D. Smith (Esq)

Senior Associate | Insurance | Bonds

Anti-fraud resources: