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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: "Steve Benson" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <stevbenson@qq.com>
Date: Thu, 15 Aug 2013 18:47:53 +0200
Subject: Kindly Get back to Me.

Hello,

Greetings to you. My name is Steve. I work at a b a n k i n t h e U n i t e d K i n g d o m. I will need your assistance in this business transaction. I will need your assistance in applying as the next of kin for my late customer, who died of kidney failure after years of struggling with the disease.

He was a wealthy business man who d e p o s i t e d a h u g e a m o u n t in our bank. He died without any registered next of kin as he was a divorcee and had no children. On receipt this message indicating your interest, I will furnish you with more details.

Please provide the following information in your reply:

Name, Address, Profession, Age and Phone

I urgently hope to get your response as soon as possible.

Yours Sincerely,

Steve Benson

Anti-fraud resources: