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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: "MONICA CLAY" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mclay@mail.mn>
Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2009 12:44:27 +0100
Subject: RE:DEAR FRIEND

Dear Friend,
I am Miss Monica Clay the first Daughter of Mr. Solomon Clay I was born and brought up in china till the recent quake. I am writing to express my interest in real estate or landed properties in your country. Though my father died in this recent Earthquake disaster in china a couple of months ago. Before his untimely death, he instructed me to leave the country for my safety and start up a business somewhere outside Asia with a total sum of USD6.5,000.000 (  Six million five hundred thousand United States Dollars)deposited in a security and finance company in Bangkok Thailand.
 
Actually, I have never met you before; it was a friend of my father's who happened to be present at his burial that advised me to consider your country for my investments. After due consideration, I started searching the web site where I got your email address.
No one else is aware of my proposal to you. Due to Earthquake disaster in Asian region, I decided to seek your assistance in transferring this money into your private or institutional account for investment purposes. I have all the vital documents that cover the deposit which could be faxed to you upon request.
Transaction of this nature demands the highest trust and confidence between both parties. This transaction is risk free in the sense that I have taken proper care of all formalities involved. For your assistance in this transfer, I have decided to give 20% of the total sum involved and 5% mapped out for miscellaneous expenses that we may inure during the process
 
Your quick response will be appreciated; I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Thanks.
Yours Sincerely,
Miss Monica Clay
email:mclay@mail.mn

Anti-fraud resources: