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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: Kriss Abba <krissabba15@msn.com>
Reply-To: <krissabba1@rocketmail.com>
Date: Sun, 23 Nov 2008 23:50:08 +0000
Subject: I WAIT TO HEAR FROM YOU



Hello Dear,
I am Dr. Kriss Abba, I do seriously need your help because I am disabled from a motor accident and I cannot travel abroad on a Doctor’s orders. I was a Gold consultant based in the Europe, and because I helped a lot of foreign Companies to get Gold Lifting Rights and lucrative Gold Contracts from Cote D'Ivoire, I was able to amass a fortune worth USD45million. On 20th December 2007, I left Europe finally with my family, and came back to Cote D'Ivoire. But because of the unfavorable political and economic climate in my country, and for security reasons, I left my money total SD45million in a Security Safe Deposit Vault in Europe. I and my family was involved in a very bad accident on our way home to our Village at Bouake, about 100 km from Abidjan; I lost my entire family in the accident and I myself fell into a coma since then. I eventually recovered from coma, and was discharged from the hospital few weeks ago. I have no money with which to sponsor any one here to undertake the trip for me; in any case, my extended family here abandoned me in hospital when they realized that the money which I came back with had been spent on hospital bills. I am currently living on the charity of the church. And now, I need your help to retrieve this money and invest it in a profitable venture abroad e.g. Real Estate Properties; I cannot bring in this money into my country for fear of seizure by the Government. If the money is properly and profitably invested abroad, I intend to leave Cote D'Ivoire permanently. Can I count on your help? For your help and assistance, you will keep 25% of the money for your self 10% will be kept aside for any expenses and keep 65% for me in safe custody until I travel to meet you and invest my share. If you agree to help me, please reply giving me the following information: 1. Your Complete name and Street (POSTAL) address2. Your Phone and fax number, including mobile3. Your confidential email address.4. Your Age and your occupation.Thanks for your kindness; I am waiting to hear from you.Remain BlessedDr. Kriss Abba.

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