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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: "Mrs. Matilda"
Reply-To: <cooontan90@email.com>
Date: Sun, 18 Oct 2015 15:06:15 +0400
Subject: Re: Greetings to you

Greetings to you,
My name is Mrs. Matilda Lewis and I am 59 year old, diagnosed with chronic cancer for just over a year.
I will be going in for a critical operation later today and decided to Will/Donate the sum of (Fourteen Million Two Hundred Fifty Eight Thousand USD) to you for the good work of the Lord.
It will not surprise me if you are taken aback on how I got your contact information, it was actually selected randomly from Google leads.
My only son was lost due to a car crash, I have a lot of envy from my family members who wish me ill for material gain.
Name: Pastor Albert Fernsby
Tell him that I have Willed $14,258,000 to you by quoting my personal reference number LLP/953/900/316US/BE.
He will know what to do.
God Bless.

Anti-fraud resources: