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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: =?UTF-8?B?IkJhcnIuIFN0YW5sZXki?= <aten1@speedy.com.ar>
Date:
Subject:



Hello,I know this letter will come to you a= s a surprise, due to the way I got in contact with you I=E2=80=99m so pleas= ed to confide this secret with you as long as you don=E2=80=99t betray me a= t the end. However, I=E2=80=99m Mr. Stanley K. Malcolm, a Legal Adviser to = a contractor with the Australian Mining Company, this contractor died with = his entire family on a Plane Crash about seven years ago when he was travel= ing with his family for summer holiday.

I=E2=80=99m contacting you s= imply because you happen to bear the same surname with my late client, as a= result of that I will like to front you to the Bank as his Relative/Heirs = to inherit his Estates and disburse it within both of us. Base on the ultim= atum letter the Bank sent to me as his lawyer, that they will confiscate th= e said funds if I cannot provide any of his relative and I cannot front mys= elf to make claim to the said funds.

The principal amount is US$7.5 = Million U.S Dollars. I have already worked out all modalities to execute th= e transfer successfully putting legalities into consideration; hence I seek= for your consent, indicate if interested to enable me sends you more detai= ls of this transaction. I wait to hear from you soonest.

Kind Regard= s,

Barr. Stanley K. Malcolm.

Anti-fraud resources: