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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: "Mary" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <maryfundsdonation@outlook.com>
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2017 19:18:11 -0700
Subject: Hi

I would like to make a proposal that may be of interest to you. This is my proposal, what I have to tell you is very important, I am 82 years old, I have lost my husband since in May 2011.I am willing to donate 10.5million GBP to charity homes and for the poor. I need you to help me handle my funds , donate 80% of my funds to the charity in your community / Country and the other 20% goes to you and your family....for the time spent and stress............I will give you more details when I hear from you.

Anti-fraud resources: