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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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "Romito, Sara" <SARA_ROMITO@dpsk12.org>
Date: Fri, 30 Apr 2010 05:26:00 -0600
Subject: AWARD WINNING NOTICE


AWARD WINNING NOTICE
Ref No.67324/371
Batch No.312/00643374
Ticket/Series No.NL6775489
Amount Won: $2,500,000.00 USD

Attn: Internet User,

This is to formally inform and congratulate you on the result of the
online cyber lotto which was conducted from an exclusive list of 1,000.000
email addresses of individual and corporate bodies selected by an advanced
automated random computer ballot system from the internet.
Your e-mail address emerged as a winner in the category "A" with the
following information enclosed.

You are therefore to receive a cash prize of $2,500,000.00. (Two Million
Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars).
To file in for the processing of your prize winnings, you are advised to
contact our Certified and Accredited claims agent for category "A" winners
with the information below:

*************************************
Martins Ward
Claims Department.
Tel:+31 619 551 210
Fax:+31 84 718 5882
Email: deptclaimsoffice@aol.nl<mailto:deptclaimsoffice@aol.nl>

Financial Director,
Romito Sara
Netherlands Development Finance Company,
De Amsterdam Poort Bijlmerplein
888 1102MG Amsterdam The Netherlands.

Anti-fraud resources: