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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: "banker banker" <banker_2010@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: p_banker_2005@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Wed, 15 Feb 2006 13:11:17 +0000
Subject: ASSISTANCE

HELLO FRIEND,

PLEASE BEAR WITH ME FOR NOW AND DO NOT ASK MY NAME. WHAT I HAVE MAY BE OF
INTEREST TO YOU. IT IS A BUSINESS PROPOSAL THAT WILL BE BENEFICIAL TO YOU
AND I.

I LIVE IN LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM. I AM 51 YEARS OLD AND I HAVE BEEN WORKING
IN A BANK IN LONDON FOR THE PAST 17 YEARS WHERE I AM PRESENTLY AN ACCOUNTS
MANAGER.

I WILL GIVE YOU MY FULL DETAILS ON YOUR REPLY TO THIS LETTER. MY AIM OF
CONTACTING YOU IS TO SOLICIT FOR YOUR CO-OPERATION AND ASSISTANCE BASED ON
ONE OF THE ACCOUNTS UNDER MY MANAGEMENT CONTAINING $18.5MILLION (EIGHTEEN
MILLION & FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS) WHICH HAS REMAINED DORMANT FOR THE LAST
TWELVE YEARS. THIS ACCOUNT WAS OWNED BY ONE OF OUR LATE CLIENT AND FOLLOWING
MY INVESTIGATION, I FOUND OUT THAT SHE DIED ON MAY 1992 VIA A CAR CRASH IN
THE BAHAMAS AND SHE LEFT NO CHILDREN OR NEXT OF KIN.

I WILL INFORM YOU MORE ON HOW WE CAN GET THE MONEY IN HER ACCOUNT
TRANSFERRED INTO YOUR ACCOUNT IF YOU AGREE TO CO-OPERATE WITH ME ON THIS ON
YOUR REPLY TO THIS MAIL. I WILL ALSO GIVE YOU MORE PERSONAL DETAILS OF ME
AND THE TRANSACTION ON YOUR REPLY.PLEASE TREAT THIS AS CONFIDENTIAL, URGENT
AND OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE.



BYE FOR NOW
BEST REGARDS.


Anti-fraud resources: