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

Fraud email example:

From: "Podinarathkim" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <Podinarathkim14@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2014 10:03:06 +0100
Subject: Asistance

Good Morning, My name is Mr. Kim Podinarath, I live and work here in Syria, I was operating a successful business here before the unrest started. The Rebels took advantage of the situation and decided to raid my company, but I was lucky I was able to still have something left. I got to know about you when I searched your country through web. Every day, I wake up with fear of the Rebel coming again to take what is left, I am married with 3 kids, and I plan to give them the best life in a peaceful country. Right now, all the money I have remaining is $3,500,000 USD that is left with me, I need you to confirm if you can assist me receive this fund since its difficult for me to leave Syria now. I am still here because of my family; I cannot cross the border with them. I want you to keep this transaction confidential, and I need you to assure me of your trust and total commitment to this transaction. The Red Cross charity officials come from different countries here every day to bring relief materials and drugs for people here, so I can easily give them anything to deliver for me through the Red cross delivery company to any country I choose, already, I have packaged the money into one of the medical trunk box used by the Red Cross to move medical supplies, the box come with combination lock, which makes it impossible for anybody to open it. All I need to do is hand it over to the Red Cross agent and declare it as family valuable, and then she can send it out through courier service to which ever destination I choose. You will receive 30% of the total funds for your assistance, and keep the remaining 70% safely for me; hopefully you and I can invest into Real Estate or any other good business. Please reply to my private email address podinarathkim14@gmail.com as soon as possible so that we can proceed. Regards Mr. Kim Podinarath

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