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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: Kenneth Cole <kenneth.cole96@gmail.com>
Reply-To: barr_kenneth.cole@hotmail.com
Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2014 14:40:43 +0100
Subject: ATTENTION

Good day,i will like you to stand as the beneficiary to my deceased
client, who deposited the sum of $5.7 million with
a bank here
in Nigeria (because you bear the same surname). He died on July 2007 with
his family members without any registered next of kin and the funds now have
an open beneficiary mandate. Upon your reply i will give you the details,i
am assuring you that it is 100% risk free,awaiting your response as soon as
possible.

Regards
Barrister Kenneth Cole

Anti-fraud resources: