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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: "Mr. Alejandro Mayorkas" <francisco@bluestream.hk>
Reply-To: officialhomelandsec@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2023 23:29:43 +0100
Subject: Matter Of Urgency

SECRET SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
U.S.DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
WASHINGTON, DC 20528, USA.

Good day, This is the Department of Homeland Security. We have a vital mission: to secure the nation from the many threats we face as well as internet Fraud. This requires the dedication of more than 230,000 employees in jobs that range from aviation and border security to emergency response, from cyber security analyst to chemical facility inspector. Our duties are wide-ranging, but our goal is clear - keeping America safe.

We are happy to inform you that your funds valued at US$2,750,000.00 (Two million Seven Hundred and Fifty Thousand United States Dollars) have been approved by the Treasury Department of the United States as your E-mail address appeared in the payment list of beneficiaries that will receive their compensation payment this month. Your E-mail ID was mentioned by our security intelligent monitoring database of Homeland Security and is one of the victims of online scams as was noted down from Yahoo, Microsoft, AOL, and Google. You will receive your compensation payment via Bank direct wire deposit to your nominated bank account or through a Debit card.

Note: We wish to inform you that our management in collaboration with the FBI Financial Monitoring Department and United States Department of Treasury (Internal Revenues Services) have issued clean money certification regarding this payment.

Do get back to us for further directives.

You are to adhere strictly to directives from Homeland Security and we advise you to stop any further correspondence you may be having currently regarding the release of trap compensation funds.

Thank you and have a good day.

Signed:
Mr. Alejandro Mayorkas
Secretary, United States Secret Service
U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Anti-fraud resources: