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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: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: wumtpaycenter2@aol.com
Date: Mon, 05 Nov 2012 04:15:32 +0800
Subject: CASH PAYMENT NOTIFICATION.

Attention,
You have a Pending transaction with the United Nation/Western Union Malaysia of $1,500,000 USD.You will be paid on a daily installment payment of $5,000USD to $7600.00USD daily with western union. Please Contact Mrs. Franca Lee via E-mail ( unwesterncenter@kimo.com ) or Call +6010 3770 946 for more inquiries, also send your Names,Phone Number and Address to apply for your first installment of $7,600 USD.

Yours truly,
Jim Burch

Anti-fraud resources: