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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: Tom Smith <secretary.tomsmith@outlook.com>
Date: Sat, 28 Mar 2015 11:28:16 +0100
Subject: RE




Hello Beneficiary

Your ATM CARD worth $4,501,981.89 will be ready in few days in our bank United Bank for Africa. All that are needed from you very urgently are, your full name, complete house address and working telephone number so it can be sent to you through an EMS SPEED POST to your house address if approved by Customer service department of the bank.

I just want to remind you of this from my private email address in-case, if all requirement are met our Customer Service department will then write you through the bank site.

Kindly respond back to me for further instruction.

Best Regards

Tom Smith

Anti-fraud resources: