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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: Mr FRANK ELLIOT <info@lee.org>
Reply-To: <officefile008855@aol.com>
Date: Tue, 2 Apr 2019 12:07:21 +0100
Subject: Please accept my apologies I do not want to invade your privacy,

Dear Friend

Please accept my apologies I do not want to invade your privacy, I
wrote earlier mail to you, but no answer, in my first post I told you
about my late client Mr.Ryan,who bears the same name with you after
his death, I received several letters from the bank, where he made a
deposit of 30 million U.S.D before his death, the bank asked me to
provide his next of kin or any of his relatives, who may make his
claim to the funds, otherwise it will be confiscated by the bank
because I could not locate any of his relatives hence I contacted you
for this claim, since you have the same last name with him. After your
reply I shall give you the details and procedures of the transaction.
waiting for your reply to {officefile008855@aol.com}

Yours sincerely friend,
Rev Frank Elliot,

Anti-fraud resources: