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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: "MR JACK WAKAWA" <wakawa7@yahoo.com> (may be fake)
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2005 10:28:17 -0800
Subject: KINDLY GET BACK TO US

DEAR SIR,

HOW ARE YOU DOING,

HOPE YOU ARE FINE.

I WILL LIKE TO KNOW IF YOUR FIRM IS CAPABLE TO HANDLE A CONTRACT ORDER
WORTH OVER $3.5 MILLION DOLLARS TO ONE OF THE FEDERAL MINISTRIES IN NIGERIA. IF YOU CAN, KINDLY GET BACK TO US WITH YOUR PRODUCT LIST AND PRICES THEN I WILL TELL YOU HOW YOU WILL PREPARE THE TENDER DOCUMENT.

THANKS HOPE TO HEAR FROM YOU SOONEST.

BEST REGARD,

MR JACK WAKAWA


Anti-fraud resources: