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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. Victoria Erlwin" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <victoriaerlwin8@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 19 Jan 2023 10:31:58 -0800
Subject: Greetings from Mrs.Victoria Erlwin

Notification Greetings,

My name is Mrs.Victoria Erlwin from the Republic of Congo.

I inherited the sum of 7.6 million dollars from my late husband.

The money is currently deposited with a security company for safekeeping.

I would like to invest the money in your country with your help as there is still political unrest here. I would appreciate your help very much.

I will give you more details as soon as I receive a reply from you.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs Victoria Erlwin.

Anti-fraud resources: