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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: "PayPal" <xx@yy>
Date: Wed, 20 Jan 2016 17:05:52 -0500
Subject: Verify your account information


Dear Customer,
=

We were unable to validate important details about your paypal Account. =

Your account has been suspended..
=

We required you to complete an account verification to avoid
account suspension.
=

You must verify your account information, and upon verification,
we will remove any restrictions placed on your account.
=

To review your account as soon as possible click on the link below
=

http://www.paypal.com
=

Thank you =

=

Sincerely,
=

Account #108-4596473-8009841
2016 =

If you receive this email in the SPAM folder,click on "Not Spam" button to =
fix it. =20

Anti-fraud resources: