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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: "Rafael Colon" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <rafaelcolon1@hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 9 Oct 2014 17:04:08 -0700
Subject: I HOPE YOU RECEIVE THIS EMAIL IN GOOD FAITH!!

Dearest.

It is with great tears and Agony that i write you this email however i know it is not easy to accept a stranger into your family and adopt me as a non biological son into your family and as a son you would get to know that will make you proud, All i seek is a family that will accept me for whom i am and send me back to school to finish my education as i have learnt that education is the best legacy anyone can ever have and as a step to making the family also proud of me through my excel in my educational career as i have promised my late parents that i will not relent until i go back to school and make them proud even in their grave.

Sir my name is Rafael Colon the son of late Jose Derizo Colon,i am 17 years old my father was a greece national who based in Libya for 20 years before the libyan crisis started and as a matter of fact my father was a Crude oil/Diamond/Gold merchant who operated through the coast of Republic of Ghana and Libya with his foreign partners my father was a very good man and was also donating help to the orphanage homes and helping the poor and the needy before on that day i saw my entire family being murdered in cold blood by rebels in Libya how i managed to excape from that scene can only be explained by the most high in Heaven but i knew that there was a reason for God to have spared my life even when one of the Rebels saw me where i was hiding, the only thing i said to the rebel who could have killed me was" Please dont kill me" and that i still have in my memory till today and that was the only way i was saved.

Sir i took to my hills after the rebels had killed my entire family and left, i had no option than to take some of my late father's vital documents without knowing the contents of the documents and ran away and fortunately for me i was selected as one of the people that joined the red cross officials who were saving lifes to be sent to an unknon destination and i finally found my self in the republic of Ghana and presently taking refuge in a catholic church but i remembered that before my late father died, he told me that he deposited the sum of 18.5,million United states dollars and 250 kilos of Diamond and Gold in a security company in london for safe keeping and for unward transfer for investment which i have all vital documents relating to this deposit with me and that was before he met his untimely death meanwhile my father had indicated that before me as the next of kin will have access to the consignment as the only son and apparent heir to his fortune, that i must provide a foreign investor that will

I will be looking forward to hearing from you soonest.

Remain Blessed

Kindest Regards
Rafael Colon

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