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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: "Christopher Wray" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <keysskb@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2019 02:35:01 -0800
Subject: vv INTENDED ONLY FOR: (VICTIM,S EMAIL)

Attn: Beneficiary
REF: FLP-IP/2422-FM10089/0877
RE: Internet Crime Victim Restitution
 
INTENDED ONLY FOR: (VICTIM,S EMAIL)
 
Our records indicate that you are eligible to receive restitution for
one or more of the internet fraud schemes you,ve been a victim of. See
necessary case details below. The perpetrator and their group of
co-offenders had over 2000 aliases originating from Russia, Nigeria,
Ghana, London and many more masking their original identities.
 
Our records indicate that you have been a victim of fraud because your
contact details were found on several devices belonging to the
perpetrator. Following court orders, this makes you eligible to
receive restitution for damages caused by their crimes.  Being that
(SUBJECT) operated on an international scale and victimized thousands
of individuals and companies of several nationalities, we determined
that the investigation had to be kept private and away from public
media to maintain unitary judgment and integrity in international
relations. Because this was a private investigation, all victims
(Including Yourself) were represented by a professional
court-appointed public defender.
 
(European Law Firm) with over 10 years of experience on similar case.
After having consistently pursued the (SUBJECTS) case for two years,
successfully  secured restitution payments of $7 million USD for
each victim.
 
Restitutions are ordered to be paid immediately. To start
receiving your restitution benefits, contact the (Law Firm) at:
johnbax563@gmail.com.
 
Note that all entries must be claimed no later than end of this month. Be sure to quote your
reference number in all correspondences.
 
Sincerely Yours.
Christopher Wray
FBI: Internet Relations
Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)

Anti-fraud resources: