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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: Mary Armstrong <vallerygomez09@gmail.com>
Reply-To: armstrong.mlaren@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 9 Aug 2021 18:21:17 +0100
Subject: From, Mrs. Mary Armstrong

--
My dear beloved,

Greetings to you and your family. My name is Mrs. Mary Laren Armstrong
from USA, l am 59 years old childless widow suffering from Esophageal
Cancer, my husband died after testing positive for the corona virus
and recently my doctor told me that i have few months to live due to
the critical condition of my cancer illness. Having known my condition
i decided to donate my late husband funds worth US$7.5Million to help
the poor, widows and orphanages which in return will bring blessing
for my soul when i die.

I took this decision because my relatives and friends have failed me
and plundered so much of my money since my illness. If you are
interested to receive this money to help the poor and widows kindly
reply me back for more details.

Attached is my passport.

Best regards,
Mrs. Mary Armstrong

Anti-fraud resources: