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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: "Joseph Swanpoel" <josephswanpoel@nottee.net>
Reply-To: <joseph_swanpoel@sify.com>
Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2010 20:23:15 +0200
Subject: INVESTMENT OFFER

Hello! This is Joseph T Swanpoel Director of First National Bank South Africa
 
 
PLEASE DOWNLOAD AND READ ATTACHMENT FOR BUSINESS PROPOSAL
 
PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL
 
Thanks
 
Joseph Tambo Swanpoel
 
Email : josephswanpoel.sa@information4u.com
 
Phone : +27833614488

Anti-fraud resources: