419 Scams
419 Scams are also known as Advance fee Scams or Advance Fee Fraud. The most popular variant of such scams are the Inheritance Scam and Lottery Scam. The Inheritance Scam is covered in this category, while Lottery Scam is covered in a category on its own.
In general, the scammer in a 419 scam makes up a story about a large sum of money (fake) that does not exist in reality.
In the case of Inheritance Scam (which is what this category will cover), someone rich has died leaving behind a huge sum of money. The scammer will request to transfer the money out of their country with your help, e.g. coming forward to pretend to be the next of kin.
In the process, they will request money from you first to cover some legal fees, bank fees, transfer fees, or whatever they can think of. This fee is called the “Advance Fee” and hence the scam was known as Advance Fee Scam. After you have paid the fees, you can forget about seeing that large sum of fake cash.
The scammers will disappear with your money, and may even use your personal information for identity theft. This is commonly known as “Nigerian Advance Fee Fraud (419)”.
Some tips about 419 scams:
1) The sender’s email address can be fake. The scammer can send the mails out using any email address via an anonymous mail server.
2) The names used in the email are fake – most of the time. There is no need to inform the police about the names, because they need more than that to find the real person behind all these.
3) The whole story is fake, including the money, dead people (if any), etc.
4) If you still insist on going ahead to try it out, please bewarned “Never Pay Money to Get Money (prize)”. We assure you that at some point in the communication process, they will ask you for money. In some cases, they will also ask you for personal identity information, which can be used to scam the bank to provide them with you bank account details.
5) If you received a check from a stranger for any funny reasons, it might be a fake check. When you bank in a fake check, the bank will clear the check and deposit the cash into your account within 3 days. After that, the scammer will ask you to send the money to them. When the bank finds out that the check is fake after about 10 days, they will ask you to return the money.
Best Defense:
1) Do not respond to such emails (delete them!)
2) If you sent any sensitive personal information (e.g. Bank Acct. No., National ID Card no., Birthday, etc) to the scammers, contact the bank immediately so that they are aware of the fraud. If this is a credit card, contact your bank to terminate the card and issue a new one.
3) Inform your friends and family members, esp. the elderly, about such scams. It is too late to tell them if they have already been scammed. Prevention is better because there is no cure!
Archived News – Spammer Jailed for 1.6mill GBP Scam
More than a year ago, an internet spammer called Peter Francis-Macrae (aka Weaselboy) was sentenced to 6 years imprisonment for offering domain names which he does not own. He had used spams to trick victims into paying him to register for new EurContact My Secretary
Contact My Secretary for that US$900,000US$35million Short and Sweet – URGENT!!!
This is one of the shorter Scam email that we have received to date. It is simply short and sweet, (quite) straight to the point. The numbers are easy to find: "US$35million, you take 30%, I take 70%, lets do it". And ofcourse, whoever owns tFake Story: US Army Attache Found Money at Haifa
In this latest story, someone impersonating a “Contractor” called John England found “$23.5 million” at Haifa during an inspection routine. I discovered an unusual bulge in a cellar which i presumed to be a storage room. I decided to have a go...Australian Taxation Office (ATO) Refund Scam Mail
HotScam.com search and reports the hottest scam, news, videos and reports on the internet - lottery scam, inheritance scam, pet scam, lover scam, phishing scam, commercial scam, job scam and more scamsUS$9 million Unclaimed funds in West Africa
US$9 million Unclaimed funds in West Africa419 Scam: Ruth offers you $9.5million Only
419 Scam: Ruth offers you $9.5million Only419 Scam: Apex Express Courier Company
419 Scam: Apex Express Courier Company419 Scam: $30 million in Shanghai Bank of China
So, "an idiot" left $30million in Bank of China (Shanghai) in 2002 and after 7 years, he could not be contacted. So another idiot in the "Bank" contacted YOU (oh we are always so lucky!) to help transfer out this sum of money. The deal is great, itsUS$28million and Not a 419 Scam!
tax evading scam419 Scam: Madam Amina Rasheed Donates US$18million
419 Scam: Madam Amina Rasheed has a US$18million Scam419 Scam: Fake Standard Chartered Bank of Ghana
Fake Name: Joy MensahOffer Type: Money TransferTransfer Amount: $5.5 million onlyStoryline: Just another fund transfer scam. Location: Claims to be GhanaScammer Email: joy2008@saix.net419 Scam: Chun Wing Business Proposal
Before the U.S and Iraqi war our client General Mohammed Motasfa who was with the Iraqi forces and also business man made a numbered fixed deposit for 18 calendar months, with a value of Nineteen millions Five Hundred Thousand United State Dollars only in my branch. Upon maturity several notice was sent to him, even during the war early this year. Again after the war another notification was sent and still no response came from him. We later find out that the general and his family had been killed during the war in bomb blast that hit their home.US$14 million from the desk of Mr Saliu Ali of Africa
There is this rich guy called Mr Morris Thompson who died in a plane crash with his entire family in year 2000, leaving behind a US$14million in his bank account somewhere in Africa. So here comes our champion, Mr Saliu Ali, who claimed to be "the419 Scams: David Lumka Offers US$14.6million
419 Scam: David Lumka Offers US$14.6millionNigerian Officials Want To Stop 419 Scams
Nigerian Officials Want To Stop 419 ScamsNigerian Scams targeting business
clean tech blog writes about a nigerian scam mail419 Scam: UNITED NATIONS OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL OVERSIGHT SERVICES
HotScam.com search and reports the hottest scam, news, videos and reports on the internet - lottery scam, inheritance scam, pet scam, lover scam, phishing scam, commercial scam, job scam and more scams419 Scams: Invitation for Partnership
419 Scams: Invitation for PartnershipUS$6.1million South African Scam
This is a brave attempt to imitate government officials' names in a scam... the hot christmas turkey must have gone into their head and clogged those vessels.----------Return-path: [s_u_s_a_nshabangu3@hotmail.com]Delivery-date: Sat, 02 Dec 2006 00:419 Scams: Money Transfer, Fake Checks and Inheritance…
419 Scams: Money Transfer, Inheritance Funds and Fake ChecksWhat the hell is this 419 Scam about!?
419 scam, congo419 Scam: Mrs Linda Kala and her US$5million Scam
Mrs Linda Kala Wishes to Apply for English Class. Any Takers Please?Arif Shaikh of Dubai talks about US$17.5million
Arif Shaikh Dubai scam419 Scam: Natwest Bank PLC – United Nations 2010 Scam Victims Compensations Payments.
A second look at "save 419 scam victim" scams, and it sounds really stupid: "On this faithful recommendations, we want you to know that during the last U.N. meetings held at Abuja, Nigeria, it was alarmed so much by the world in the meetings on the l419 Scam: United Nations $5.5million
419 Scam: United Nations $5.5million419 Scam: Mr. Malusi Sobili has $35million to transfer to you.
419 Scam: Mr. Malusi Sobili has $35million to transfer to you.419 Scam: Natwest Bank
HotScam.com search and reports the hottest scam, news, videos and reports on the internet - lottery scam, inheritance scam, pet scam, lover scam, phishing scam, commercial scam, job scam and more scams419 Scam: Panuka Chambers
419 Scam: Panuka ChambersFake Money From Bank Machines?
Counterfeit money is an uncommon yet unfortunate reality. The chances of receiving counterfeit dollar bills are very small, but not impossible. Many incidents have been reported of people unknowingly getting fake money from Automated Teller MachinesUS$18million from Diamond Trade
Johnson Adams' father managed to get US$18million from diamond trade in Sierra Leone and transferred the money to South Africa successfully. After his father died, Johnson is looking for someone in your country to transfer out this money from Sout419 Scam: Mr.Tomo Sand Nori
HotScam.com search and reports the hottest scam, news, videos and reports on the internet - lottery scam, inheritance scam, pet scam, lover scam, phishing scam, commercial scam, job scam and more scams419 Scam: Frank Chikane has $30.5 million dollar deal
419 Scam: Frank Chikane has $30.5 million dollar dealInvestment Scam: Or is this a 419 Scam?
3MR Investment scam419 Scam: Another 419 Franchisee in China – fake Lee Yang
HotScam.com search and reports the hottest scam, news, videos and reports on the internet - lottery scam, inheritance scam, pet scam, lover scam, phishing scam, commercial scam, job scam and more scams
419 Scam: BANK OF AMERICA ONLINE ACCOUNT SETUP INSTRUCTION
This whole scam boils down to this statement: You have to send the sum of US$999.00 to activate your Bank of America Personal Residential Online Account, this payment will be credited to your Online account before we can fully remitted the amount value of...Mark Johnson and his $250k Fake Check
Mark Johnson and Rose Williams with $250k Fake CheckSolomon Johnson has $15.5 million from his father
Solomon Johnson and US$15.5million ScamAli bello Scam Bag
This is a short scam mail claiming to be so called Ali Bello. Its TOO SHORT for US$10.5million scam. ----- Forwarded Message ----From: Ali Bello <alibello2_bf@yahoo.com>Subject: CALL ME FOR MORE DETAILS+226-78-89-17-04You're invited to: &Free MONEY! US$6.7million From the Central Bank of Nigeria
Return-path: [aliusman70000@hotmail.com]Delivery-date: Fri, 09 Feb 2007 08:44:03 -0600Received: from [65.54.246.226] (helo=bay0-omc3-s26.bay0.hotmail.com) (envelope-from <aliusman70000@hotmail.com>) iEarn US$2.2million by offering noble assistance
Henry And Francisca scam
419 Scam: Urgent Business Proposal by Barrister James Green
This is a scam. ———- Forwarded message ———-From: Barrister James Green <williamsmithattorney@hotmail.com>Date: Thu, Jan 28, 2010 at 4:04 PMSubject: URGENT BUSINESS PROPOSALTo: WILLIAM SMITH ATTORNEY ATTORNEYS AT LAW &...Effective Credit Control for Your Business
Running a business on credit is one of the most professional things you can do, whilst also becoming one of the most risky. As soon as you offer credit to your customers you are opening yourself up for severely late payment, or worse still, no paymeHow to protect yourself from Mortgage Scam
How to protect yourself from Mortgage ScamGreek History Books, Democracy – America, Soon China
The news today may have been historic. As an earlier brilliant light of early America, Emerson noted while he and his friend Thoreau would read and discuss the ideas of the ages, others would shout loudly about another train derailment. Or there wasHow To Avoid Dishonest Home Business Schemes
Should You Take The Bait? Unfortunately, unscrupulous home business schemes are everywhere these days. If you surf the internet, it seems as though everywhere you turn, you are flooded with ads that tell you how to earn more money than you are now,Business Ethics: Five Things You Need to Know
You may think that business ethics pertains to OTHER people. You learned good ethics at your mother's knee. Well, what did she tell you about conflicts of interest? As a former Director, Ethics and Compliance for a $1.5B publicly traded organizatiRunning A Home Based Business Can Be Lucrative
Home-based businesses account for over 400 billion dollars a year in income. Over 150 million people in North America alone now operate some type of business endeavor. Home-based sewing businesses are becoming increasingly popular as more people areMaking Money at Home is Easy
Making Money at Home is EasyIllegal $30m United Nations Contract
Illegal $30m United Nations Contract419 Scams – Loan Scams – Pay me before I Lend You
419 Scams, Pay me before I Lend You419 Scam: Can you remember me?
419 Scam: Can you remember me?Investment Scam: Fake Christopher Osborne $2 billion bullshit
This guy is definitely using a fake name, and is not related to the many real Christopher on the web. I am Christopher Osborne, a financial consultant attached to fidelity investments international, a fund management company with over US$2,00419 Scam: Your Package is at the Airport
This is a common scam, regardless of the airport, country, location, whatever. The scammer(s) will inform you that a package containing alot of money (the bait) is waiting for your collection at the airport. You are required to reply or contact another person (custom,...US$33 million Nigeria Scam Biggest Payout! Quick! Quick!
By far, this scamming offers is the best in my collection with a returns in shares of 40% of the US$33 million dollars... (wow! peed in my pants!). Not to worry, the scammer has prepared all the fake legal documents awaiting for you to be scammed.419 Scam: 8.7million GBP Free Money!!!
419 Scam: 8.7million GBP from Robert TaylorFake Story: US Army Attache Found Money at Haifa
HotScam.com search and reports the hottest scam, news, videos and reports on the internet - lottery scam, inheritance scam, pet scam, lover scam, phishing scam, commercial scam, job scam and more scamsDidan Kimati has US$745 million Business Proposal
419 Scam: Didan Kimati and his US$745million BullshitWatch out for 419 Scam using fake Securital name
Watch out for 419 Scam using fake Securital nameFranklin Bright has US$1million in South Korea
Contact John Iveatu to receive US$1million in cashUS$11.4 million and 25kg of Gold
Compliments of the day.With truth and sencerity I write you this letter hoping that you will be of good assistance to me and my family. For the pupose of introduction, I am MRS.HELEN JASSOMA TOMO, a Sierra Leone and the wife of late Dr. JASSOMA TOMO My late husband was the Managing Director of the Sierra Leonian Gold and Diamond Mine in Kenema,eastern Sierra Leone but was killed during begining of the civil war in my country.419 Scam: Someone is Impersonating You and Claiming Your Wealth
HotScam.com search and reports the hottest scam, news, videos and reports on the internet - lottery scam, inheritance scam, pet scam, lover scam, phishing scam, commercial scam, job scam and more scamsFamous Nigerian Scams reported in the news
Famous Nigerian Scams reported in the newsDebt Cure – Kevin Trudeau is a miracle man
HotScam.com search and reports the hottest scam, news, videos and reports on the internet - lottery scam, inheritance scam, pet scam, lover scam, phishing scam, commercial scam, job scam and more scamsCurrent Government Crisis Issues With Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac
The government has seized control of both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two large home mortgage companies Fannie Mae, also known as the Federal National Mortgage Association, and Freddie Mac, also knownIs this a Scam: Denson Realty
Is this a Scam: Denson RealtyIs this a Scam: Forward Insurance & Security Company
Is this a Scam: Forward Insurance & Security CompanySave Your Money by Avoiding Home Business Scams
How many times have you heard about or received an offer for an apparent great home business opportunity? You know, lots of claims of income and then at the bottom of the website or sales page or infomercial picture, on your television, they have a dIdentity Theft Protection: What Are Your Options?
In this day and age, it is difficult to know just how safe you and your identity are. There are so many instances now days in which thieves are getting hold of your personal information and using it to their own advantage and your own disadvantage. TAffiliate Marketing – The Biggest Scams Of All Time
Affiliate marketing is probably the biggest business online. Some might say eBay is bigger, but eBay has an affiliate program, so even eBay is a part of affiliate marketing. It seems these days everything under the sun comes with an affiliate prograIs this a Scam: HB Marketing Inc.
Firstly, I never trust any websites that wrote very long webpages which attempts to convince you why it is not a scam. This is a telltale sign that it is a scam indeed. We don't even have the patience to read through everything. So what is their straWhat Is Attraction Marketing
Attraction Marketing is a new marketing category, a hybrid cross between public relations and journalism. Most marketing programs are out of alignment with how the affluent actually select their advisors or financial services. Attraction Marketing isModeling Scam
Modeling ScamIs this a Scam: gmbeasyway or Google Money Elite?
Is this a Scam: gmbeasyway or Google Money Elite?getprofits.biz: Never Pay to Sign-up for Online Job Offers
getprofits.biz - Never Pay to Sign-up for Online Job Offers