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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. Erikson Sterling" <amlopez@pami.org.ar>
Reply-To: "Mr. Erikson Sterling" <erikson.sterling@outlook.com>
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2015 10:05:30 -0300 (ART)
Subject: INDICATE YOUR INTEREST...

Greetings,

My name is Mr. Erikson Sterling, I work with an investment bank in the
United kingdom, probate detective looking for distant relatives of people
who have died without making a will, the United Kingdom government
normally do this at the end of every year before they will legally
confiscate the funds, Last year alone they made over GBP58Million from
unclaimed assets.

When people die intestate (without a will) and with no known relatives,
their names are released by the Treasury department every end of the year,
a list of these unclaimed estates, cash investments saved gold and diamond
assets are also included.

I started working with this investment bank since last year but I have
done my research and see that we can make a lot of money by working with
trust and respect I have notice that with all the information’s in my
position right now we can make a lot of money by fronting you as the
deceased relative or beneficiary of his assets.

I have in my position this account details and death certificate and a
copy of his international passport which are the requirements needed to be
provided by any next of kin claimer. If you are willing to work with me I
will advise you forward me your contact details so that I will contact you
for proper introduction and communication before we proceed. My email:
erikson.sterling@outlook.com

I look forward to hearing from you.

Best Regards,

Mr. Erikson Sterling.

Anti-fraud resources: