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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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Fraud email example:

From: "PRIM OFFICE" <primoffice@excite.com> (may be fake)
Date: Sat, 6 Nov 2004 15:13:15 +0100
Subject: LOTTERY AWARD WINNER

LOTERIA PRIMITIVA
SWEEPSTAKE PROMOTION.
CALLE/BUSMAN EL-BUENO,
13728007 MADRID
SPAIN.
FROM: THE DESK OF THE PROMOTIONS MANAGER,
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT,
REF: LP/26510460037/02 BATCH: 24/00319/IPD
AWARD NOTIFICATION FINAL NOTICE.
WE ARE PLEASE TO INFORM YOU OF THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE WINNERS OF
LOTTERY PRIMITIVA SWEEPSTAKES/INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS HELD ON 15 TH JUNE 2004. YOUR CONTACT IS ATTACHED TO THE TICKET NUMBER 004-05117963-198, WITH SERIAL NUMBER 99375 DREW THE LUCKY NUMBERS 01-15-37-38-48-49 AND CONSEQUENTLY WON THE LOTTERY IN CATEGORY 1B. YOU HAVE BEEN THEREFORE APPROVED THE SUM OF €1,500.000.00(ONE MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND EUROS)CREDITED TO THE FILE NUMBER:
LP/2656043/ES/104
THIS IS FROM THE TOTAL PRICE MONEY OF EUR31.472.765.00 SHARED AMONG THE TWENTY THREE LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL WINNERS IN ALL CATEGORIES. ALL
PARTICIPANTS WERE SELECTED THROUGH COMPUTER BALOTTING SYSTEM DRAWN FROM
45,000.00 NAMES FROM AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, AFRICA, EUROPE,AMERICA AND ASIA AS PART OF OUR INTERNATIONAL PROMOTION PROGRAM WHICH IS CONDUCTED EVERY TWO YEARS.

Anti-fraud resources: