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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: "Mary Jones" <maryjonesatmcard2011@live.com>
Reply-To: <mrokabraham2011@mail.mn>
Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2011 19:15:37 +0200
Subject: IS ME MR. O.K ABRAHAM GET BACK TO ME NOW

I am in receipt of your email and the content is well understood, but I hereby to inform you once again that the £350,000.00 is your Euro million lottery winning funds which you won, that is why you are advised to fill the form and return back to us to enable us to proceed immediately on the crediting of your winning funds into your ATM CARD.
 
 
 
 
FULL NAME______________________________________
FULL ADDRESS___________________________________
AMOUNT APPLIED FOR_____________________________
AMOUNT IN WORD_________________________________
PURPOSE OF PAYMENT______________________________
TELEPHONENUMBER_________________FAXNUMBER___________
DATE_____________________
 
****************************************************************
We deeply appreciate your understanding and timely co-operation.
Yours faithfully,
Ms. Mary Jones
Please open the attachment and read Reply

Anti-fraud resources: