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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: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: <franciscole_52@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:57:31 +0000
Subject: HELLO



HI, Hello, how are you doing? my name is Francis Cole. I am from Wales, United Kingdom. I need your help as a beneficiary to claim some wealth left by my late father in a security company $36M (Thirty Six Million Dollars), I am willing to offer you $6M from the funds. If you are interested, write me back via my private e-mail address and I will give you more details. My e-mail is franciscole_52@yahoo.co.uk.Please, be assured that this transaction is 100% risk free. The major thing I require from you is absolute assurance that the money will be safe when transferred into your account. Please assure me that you will act accordingly as I stated here. May God bless you and your family while waiting to hear from you soon. I wait for your reply. Thank you. Mr. Francis Cole.

Anti-fraud resources: