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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: "James" <jmzwsn@hotmail.com> (may be fake)
Reply-To: jmzwsn70@yahoo.com
Date: Sun, 9 Feb 2020 21:56:15 +0100
Subject:

Greetings from Iraq,
My name is James, a US Marine currently on military assignment in Iraq, I humbly ask of your assistance to secure and invest some money for me in your country. I have my hopes of investment in Angola, Portugal or Brazil.
My unit was assigned duties for some years in Iraq and in the course of carrying out my assignment, I have been involved in some deals in which I made the sum of us$2 Million.
Currently, the situation in Middle East is so volatile for American forces therefore I want to get my funds securely invested in a safer country abroad. I therefore call upon you to assist me in securing and investing the money in your country pending when I will disengage from my military assignment.
I promise to compensate you adequately for your assistance. Kindly let me know if you can work with me in your reply.
Best regards
James Wilson


Anti-fraud resources: