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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: "Kennedy Bricks" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <kennedy1bricks@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2023 11:37:42 -0700
Subject: Re: Reply Please

Dear friend,

I am Kennedy Bricks from a law firm in the UK, and our associate Werner law firm is in Kyiv, Ukraine. Our client, Mr. Vasily Melnikov, the owner of the Medstom company in Russia, was murdered along with his family in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. The businessman, his wife, and two minor children were stabbed to death in their home on March 23, 2022, and he has had a deposit worth US$48 million since July 2019 with a security company. I would like us to work it out for our mutual benefit. If you are interested, indicate so I can give full details.

Yours truly,
Kennedy Bricks

Anti-fraud resources: