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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: "John David - Insurance & Tax Attorney"<johndavid@johnlevittandco.com>
Date:
Subject:

Dear good friend,

Please pardon my intrusion. It may surprise you to receive this letter from me since there has been no previous correspondence between us. My name is Barrister John David. I am the principal attorney and head of insurance and Tax department at John Levitt & Co, a reputable law firm in London, United Kingdom. I am contacting you regarding an unclaimed “permanent life insurance policy” in the amount 12,820,000 GBP with Royal Bank of Scotland which is held by our deceased client who happens to share the same last name with you. Unfortunately, my client left no will before his death.

I ask for your consent to be in partnership with me for the claim of this policy benefit since you share the same last name with my client. If you permit me to add your name to the policy, all proceeds will be processed on your behalf and immediately transferred to your account in your country. I wish to point out that I want 10% of this money to be shared among charity organizations while the remaining 90% will be shared equally between us.

If you are interested, please respond to me for more details.

Yours Sincerely
Barrister John David
Head of Insurance and Tax law
London

Anti-fraud resources: