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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: "Prince James Owusu" (may be fake)
Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:13:32 +0200
Subject: Our Gold/Diamond Mine.

Hello,

We represent a group of local gold/diamond miners in Ghana and Sierra Leone. We have some kilograms of pure gold dust and carat of diamond. We are offering it for sale if you can afford it or We will offer you a percentage if you can get a buyer for it. We will however accept your offer based on my conditions. These conditions are as follows, we will not send samples as unserious people just collect these samples and you never hear back from them.

We also aware of some bad internet practices by some people so we will NEVER ask you for money as you will have to come down, see and test the products. You will be rewarded with an agreed percentage of the total sale if you are able to get buyers.
Prince James Owusu.

Anti-fraud resources: