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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.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "Paul Anderson" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <paulandersonhalifax@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2018 00:30:44 -0700
Subject: Ref: Transfer payment Approval Notice.

Ref: 475061725
Batch: 7056490902/188
Winning no: GB8701/LPRC
 
Congratulations.
 
We are delighted to inform you of your prize release today, from the Australian Lottery Sweepstakes International. This is a bonus to promote lotto in Australia Which is fully based on an electronic selection of winners using their e-mail addresses from some site.
 
You hereby have been approved a lump sum pay of $500,000.00USD (Five Hundred Thousand united states dollars) in cash credit file ref: ILP/HW 47509/18 from the total cash prize shared amongst eight lucky winners in this category.
 
Please quote your reference, batch and ticket number which can be found on the top left corner of this notification as well as your
 
Full Name:
Full Address:
Winning E-Mail:
Occupation:
Phone:
 
To file for your claim: simply contact the authorized paying bank Halifax
Bank plc London.
Contact Person: Mr Paul Anderson
e-mail: paulandersonhalifax@gmail.com

Anti-fraud resources: