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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: "Mrs. Mariam. Abacha" <mrmariam_abacha@yahoo.it> (may be fake)
Reply-To: mariam_aba_2004@yahoo.com
Date: Tue, 22 Mar 2005 12:25:52 +0100
Subject: Dear Sir,

Dear Sir,

I am Mrs. Mariam. Abacha, the widow of Sani Abacha the
Late Nigerian Head of State.I am presently in distress
and under house arrest while my son Mohammed is under going trial in
Lagos and
Abuja though he has just been recently granted
bail under the condition that my family refunds to the Federal
Government some amount of money. The government
has frozen all the family account and auctioned all our properties.
Refer to this website about my husband's loot andyou
will understand what I mean
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1935646.stm
To save the family from total bankruptcy I have
managed to ship through an undercover courier company,
the sum of US15, 000,000.00. kept by my late husband.The
money was disguised to beat the Nigerian
Security and it is currently deposited in a security
company which I will disclose the name and contacts to you if
I get a positive response from you. I want you
toreceive the money and pay into your account for the family safely.
I am offering you 30% for assisting me secure this
money Contact me immediately with my email address
so that I can forward to you all necessary details.
Endeavour to send your phone and fax numbers for easy
Communications. This project is not risky.
Best regards.
Mrs. Mariam. Abacha


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