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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: Alhaji Aliu Abubakar <aliu@alvilag.hu>
Date: Wed, 08 Dec 2004 15:57:09 +0100
Subject: INVESTMENT RELATIONSHIP NEEDED IN YOUR COUNTRY (VERY URGENT).

ATTN: MD/CEO

Dear Sir,

Good to you,
I am ALHAJI ALIU ABUBAKER, Sir, I have a client who wants to invest in your country and with about US$12.5M. My client is a General in the army and he needs protection for his family, if you can handle such a huge sum of investment please get back to me as soon as possible so that I will give you the detailed information, for example the investment plan and agreement procedure. I am waiting for your urgent response. Through via E-mail: aliuabubakar@timemail.com

Thank you.
Alhaji Aliu Abubakar

Anti-fraud resources: