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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: =?big5?q?roddick=20oba?= <roddickoba13@yahoo.com.tw>
Reply-To: roddick_oba@myway.com
Date: Thu, 3 Aug 2006 02:26:44 +0800 (CST)
Subject: DEARSIR/MADAM, STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL. I KNOW THIS WILL COME TO YOU AS A SURPRISE BECAUSE YOU DO NOT KNOW ME. I AM MR. RODDICK OBA, I WORK IN THE CITY TRUST BANK COTONOU REPUBLIC OF BENIN, WEST AFRICA, PACKAGING AND COURIER DEPARTMENT. I GOT YOUR CONTACT IN MY SEARCH FOR A HONEST PERSON THROUGH ONE OF MY COLLEAGUES HERE IN THE CITY TRUST BANK WHO SAID THAT I CAN CONFIDE IN YOU. I WANT YOU TO HELP ME CLEAR THIS PACKAGE THAT IS ALREADY IN OVER SEAS WHICH I SHIPPED IN THROUGH OUR CITY TRUST BANK ACCRE


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Anti-fraud resources: