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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: "Dennis Vellek" (may be fake)
Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2011 16:22:01 -0700
Subject: happy new year

Good Day,

I am contacting you in my bid to find a reliable partner that can handle a profitable business deal that involves a large sum of money. I will give you a little detail on the source of the funds.

Due to the recent merger of my bank Abn Amro N.V. with Royal Bank of Scotland, I was made head of service in my department by the Board of directors of my bank Royal Bank of Scotland, to compile all accounts that has been in operation with the bank in the United Kingdom. Through my compilation of accounts, I discovered an account with credit balance of 7,467,000.00Euros, on further trace I discovered that the account has been inactive for over Nine (9) yrs. and the owner of this account was Engineer Christian Eich, a German who ran car maker BMW's museum who unfortunately lost his life, including his wife and
two children in the plane crash (Flight AF4590) which crashed on July 31st 2000 killing all 109 people on board.

Details About The Plane Crash Visit The Web Site Below: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/859479.stm

Regarding the short period of Twenty-One (21) working days allowed confirming and submitting the reports by the Board of directors of the bank, which may lead to the liquidation of the account. I have chosen to seek your consent to work with me as a team and pull out this fund under the legitimacy as next of kin of Late Engineer Christian Eich.

Contact me immediately for details soon as possible.

Sincerely Yours

Mr. Dennis Vellek
Royal Bank of Scotland
135 Bishopsgate,
London EC2M 3UR,
United Kingdom

Anti-fraud resources: