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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: "U.S. Department of the Treasury" <info@finishtaxi.nl>
Reply-To: <infous@superposta.com>
Date: Thu, 14 Jun 2012 20:45:53 -0700
Subject: Information you need


U.S. Department of the Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C.
Website: http://www.treasury.gov
Date: 06/14/2012

Dear Sir,

I am Timothy F. Geithner. The Secretary of the Treasury under the U.S Department of the Treasury. Please enclose to this e-mail is an official signed and sealed fund approval notification. Hence, for the completion of your approved fund valued at the $5,500,000.00,kindly view the attached document and follow up the instruction immediately.

Yours Sincerely,

Timothy F. Geithner
Secretary of the Treasury

Anti-fraud resources: