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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: "Stephen Malabie" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <stepmala022@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 7 Nov 2013 19:36:47 +0200
Subject: How are you?

Good day,
I am Mr.Stephen Malabie, Trained and working as an Account Officer for the ABSA BANK of SOUTH AFRICA (ABSA).

I write to contact you about a foreigner who was a Farmer bearing the same name as yours, who died here in SOUTH AFRICA over a decades ago leaving behind an estate/capital US$12.3M here in ABSA BANK of SOUTH AFRICA.

However, the Investor died intestate, no next-of-kin, nobody came forward all these years to lay claim of the inheritance. I have decided to work with you to secure the funds, and propose 20% offer for you.

If you are interested, you are advised to email me back to my direct email addr: stepmala022@gmail.com and i will tell you more of what you need to know.

Thank you for your time and understanding.

Regards,
Stephen Malabie

Anti-fraud resources: