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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.Thompson Owen" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <tom.owen.tom@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 3 Nov 2013 18:16:04 +0530
Subject: Mr.Thompson Owen

My Name is Mr. Thompson Owen, The Director of Queen Diamond Hotel in London, UK. I am currently searching for a partner, who can assist me in acquiring a parcel of land and supervise the building of my hotel branch in your country. I want to go into partnership with someone who is trustworthy and reputable person and must be able to handle projects involving huge volume of funds. If you are interested, please contact me with your personal introduction on my private email only: tom.owen.tom@gmail.com.
Regards
Mr.Thompson Owen

Anti-fraud resources: