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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: "SNS BANK" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <snsbonds@mail.kz>
Date: Sat, 3 Dec 2011 19:27:33 +0100
Subject: Regarding your family member!!!

Hello,
I am Walter Mills,I work with the SNS Bank, Bonds and Deposit Department.
A possible family member of yours(name with-held for security reasons) died leaving a tidy sum in
Bonded Account.
Get back to me with your full names and telephone number or call me for more details as
this will be beneficial to you and parties involve.

Faithfully,
Walter Mills
SNS BANK,FOREIGN BONDS/DEPOSITS
Phone:+447011140339

Anti-fraud resources: