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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: "Mrs.Ivy Tsikata" <ivy_tsikata@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 30 May 2008 14:12:17 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: INVESTMENT ASSISTANCE NEEDED


My Dear,

I am a woman of 36years old with one son. My husband was a civil servant,but unfortunately inthe year 2005 he died in a ghastly car accident, but before he died he left ( $3.5m Usd ) Three million five hundred thousand United states dollars with a security and Safe Keeping Company here in Accra-Ghana.

I will like to invest this fund in farming project or any other profitable business in your country, like Real Estate projects.

I will need you to assist me in this project.

Thanks,

Mrs.Ivy Tsikata


Anti-fraud resources: