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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: UNITED NATION AFRICAN REGION <united-nations12@live.com>
Date: Sat, 25 Jul 2015 10:11:23 +0000
Subject: Attn: Scam Victim


Attn: Scam Victim

I am mandated to inform you that the federal
Government of Nigeria in collaboration with the African Union(AU) and
the United Nations(UN) is paying out the sum of $5,000,000.00 Five
Million United Dollars to all verified scam victims. By this email you
are advised to respond to me immediately if you have been scammed before
so that you will be listed immediately to receive this payment before
the end of the remaining working days of the year.

You are also
advised to ignore this email if you have not been scammed before because
this payment is strictly for people who have been scammed before and
people who have been victims of scam related activities. If you are a
victim then respond strictly to this email address: for direction on how
to claim your compensation payment.


Contact person: John Benson.
Email address: johnbenson1@qq.com

Regards,
Cleave Stevenson.

Anti-fraud resources: