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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: "Yellowbird Brokers" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <23yellowbirdbrokers@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 2015 09:12:28 -0700
Subject: Did you give permission

Hello
 
Please sincerely let us know if you are  the person who authorize one Mr. Smith David of Orlando Florida USA to substitute your account with his. He brought an affidavit from the court that West Africa Banking Union should pay him your Five Hundred Thousand Dollars inheritance fund.
 
We are consultant to the bank and have asked him to wait till we get clarification from you. Do we release the money to him or we should still pay it to you.
 
Every transaction on your file is put on hold till we hear from you. He even said you are dead which we do not believe.
 
We are waiting for your reply.
 
Mike Green
CEO
Yellow Bird Brokers Inc
 

Anti-fraud resources: