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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: mike adi <mikeadi37@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: <mikeadi2@myway.com>
Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2007 18:06:05 +0000
Subject: FROM MIKEADI



HELLO,
MY NAME IS MIKE ADI FROM SIERRA LEONE,BUT PRESENLTY IN ABIDJAN COTE D'IVOIRE.I LOST MY FATHER YEARS BACK AND I NEED YOUR HELP IN A TRANSFER OF SOME MONEY THAT MY LATE FATHER LEFT BEFORE HE DIED.
THE MONEY $25.MILLION WAS DEPOSITED WITH A BANK HERE IN ABIDJAN.MY LATE FATHER WAS ONE OF THE DIRECTORS UNDER TEJAN KABBAH'S GOVERNMENT, YOU ARE TO HELP ME STAND AS MY LATE FATHER'S PARTNER BEFORE THE BANK TO RECEIVE THE MONEY IN YOUR ACCOUNT. I AM ONLY 22YRS OLD AND WITHOUT PARENTS AND DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT TRANSFER OF FUNDS .
IF YOU ARE INTRESTED REPLY ME SO THAT I WILL GIVE YOU ALL THE INFORMATION FOR THE BANK TO TRANSFER THE MONEY TO YOUR ACCOUNT THEREAFTER YOU WILL HELP ME TO SECURE PAPERS TO JOIN YOU IN YOUR COUNTRY FOR ME TO CONTINUE MY EDUCATION THERE.
I HAVE AGREED TO GIVE YOU 15% OF THE TOTAL AMOUNT FOR YOUR HELP. I NEED THIS DETAILS BELLOW. mikeadi2@myway.com
Your Full names: Your Residential Address: Your phone/Fax numbers: Your Age: Your Occupation:
MIKE ADI
_________________________________________________________________
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http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA102225181033.aspx?pid=CL100626971033

Anti-fraud resources: