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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: "Terry Gilliam" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <tgilliam1@excite.co.uk>
Date: Fri, 24 Aug 2012 03:51:31 -0700
Subject: I will appreciate your thought about this topic.

Dear Friend,

I am Terry Gilliam, British citizen and Principal assurance manager for the HSBC in London. I have an urgent business proposal for your consideration and acceptance that I wish to discuss with you.. Should you be of interested in this business, please kindly contact me via my personal email to enable me furnish you with more information and modalities of this business. Contact Email: tgilliam1@excite.co.uk

If we can be of one accord, we should plan a meeting, soon.

I await your response.

Respectfully,

Terry Gilliam

Anti-fraud resources: