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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: "Mrs. Cymia Williams" <cymia1toure@gmail.com>
Reply-To: cymia.williams@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 05:25:17 +0100
Subject: Hi Dear

--
My Dear,
Greetings, I am Mrs. Cymia Williams from Cote d'Ivoire. I want to
establish a charity foundation in your country with this sum of $12.5
Million USD which I inherited from my late husband (Dr. Toure
Williams) it is my desire to see that this money is invested to any
business / organization of your choice in your country, Motherless
Baby's Home, Mosques, Churches, School, Destitute Aged Men and Women
or whatever you may have in mind that will be to the benefit of the
less fortunate. Please keep this proposal as a secret between us and
delete it immediately in your mail box if you are not interested. But
if you are interested give me an answer immediately through my email
address: cymia.williams@yahoo.com
I await your response.
Sincerely Yours,
Mrs. Cymia Williams

Anti-fraud resources: