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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.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "Kelvin Allyn" <azinsurance@insurancecompanyworld.com>
Date: Thu, 13 Oct 2005 10:07:37 +0000
Subject: transfer fee

       To make every this legal and right, we have to make sure you receive a certificate of winning. Incase anything happens to your winning before it gets to you, the insurance company will be responsible and your funds will be paid by insurance company. 

 In some cases where winners are from UK, transfer fee is free. Since you are in America, your transfer fee will be determined by the delivering courier company you prefer, that is if you want the funds sent to your house, if you want to receive your winnings in your account, you pay 1,450 Pounds.

 

 

Anti-fraud resources: