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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: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: <albertosi7691@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2015 03:19:49 -0700
Subject: GREETINGS TO YOU

Greetings to you,
 
I know that this will come to you as a surprise since we don’t know each other before. For the purpose of introduction, I was a business partner to Former CEO of British Petroleum (BP) Lord Browne.
 
After careful consideration, I decided to contact you as my colleague and I need good standing foreign partner we can use to transfer the sum of £ 21.5 Million (Twenty One Million, Five Hundred Thousand Pounds). This fund accrued legitimately to us as commission from foreign contracts and mergers with British Petroleum.
 
The fund is presently waiting to be remitted from London awaiting transfer to anyone we named as our foreign partner.  We are trying to avoid questions that might arise regarding source and ownership of the money if we leave it in the United Kingdom. By virtue of my political position and that of my colleagues, we cannot receive this money in our name hence my contacting you.
 
We need you to be one of our registered foreign directors who will receive the fund as that is what is stated during the contract.   I will take care of the document that will include you as the company director.
 
We agreed for a sharing ration of 25% for you.  I do intend investing in real estate or other viable business venture outside the United Kingdom to avoid government and media scrutiny. I would require your assistance on investing, Due to our political positions and affiliations, we would require complete confidentiality at all times no matter the situation.
 
The transfer will be effected within a period no longer than a month as soon as we reach an agreement.
 
Please disregard this letter if you are not interested.
 
Yours Truly,
Alberto Creswell.

Anti-fraud resources: