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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: "melvin clarke" <melvin_tclarke43@yahoo.co.nz> (may be fake)
Date: Mon, 25 Jul 2005 14:53:57 +0000
Subject: I NEED YOUR ASSISTANCE

I NEED YOUR ASSISTANCE TO STAND AS BENEFICIARY AND RECEIVER OF AN AMMOUNT OF TEN MILLION U.S. DOLLARS ($10,000,000), PRESENTLY IN THE VAULTS OF ROYAL SECURITY COMPANY LIMITED, ACCRA, GHANA. I AM FROM THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA AND HAVE CONCLUDED ARRANGEMENTS TO MOVE THE FUNDS TO THE "INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL BANK",ACCRA,GHANA,WHERE IT WILL BE SENT TO YOUR DESIGNATED ACCOUNT IN EUROPE BY WIRE TRANSFER OR SWIFT. ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS TO SEND ME PHOTOCOPIES OF YOUR PASSPORT AND YOUR ACCOUNT CO-ORDINATES SO THAT I WILL FORWARD IT TO THE SAME BANK WHO WILL THEN CONTACT YOU AS MY FOREIGN PARTNER AND RECEIVER OF THE FUNDS,BEFORE THE TRANSFER IS MADE UPON VERIFICATION FROM YOU. YOU ARE ALLOWED 30% OF TOTAL SUM AS YOUR CUT WHEN THE FUNDS GET INTO YOUR ACCOUNT WHILE YOU HELP ME TO SECURE VISA TO EUROPE WHERE I PLAN TO CONTINUE MY EDUCATION. I AWAIT YOUR RESPONSE. YOURS SINCERELY, MELVIN CLARKE


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