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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.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

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

Fraud email example:

From: "COLE" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <brian.cole@onet.eu>
Date: Fri, 2 Nov 2018 00:21:53 +0100
Subject: SENIOR RESIDENT REPRESENTATIVE

Dear Friend
I am a financial consultant in UK,I am contacting you in
respect of my late client fund  12.7M British Pounds Sterling deposited with a bank
here in London which is about to be confiscated by the Government  after many
years unclaimed, I decided to contact you because you bear's the same last
name with him.
 
Kindly indicate your interest by sending me your
Full name , Age , Marital status , Postal address, Job, phone number ;
You will be entitle to 50 %; 40 % for me and 10 % to defray all cost.
Yours Sincerely
BRIAN COLE
Reply to :brian.cole@onet.eu

Anti-fraud resources: