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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: "Mr.David Berkley" <brkldvd@gmail.com>
Reply-To: berkleydavid@yahoo.com.tw
Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2013 20:12:29 -0500
Subject: IMPORTANT INFO




Dear Beneficiary,

I am Mr David Berkley Manager of Claims Department with a bank here in
London, United Kingdom. I wish to notify you that you are clear to claim
the total sum of Twenty Million Five Hundred thousand British pounds in
the codicil and last testament of a deceased costumer (Name now withheld
for security reasons).

Kindly Contact me for more details via my private e-mail address:
berkleydavid@yahoo.com.tw or brkldvd@gmail.com


Yours faithfully,
Mr.David Berkley


Anti-fraud resources: