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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: Miss Ruth James <ruthjames700000@gmail.com>
Reply-To: ruthjames19990@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 4 Jul 2022 20:34:09 +0000
Subject: FROM MISS RUTH JAMES

FROM MISS RUTH JAMES

My name is Miss Ruth James compaore I am working with one of the
prime banks in Abidjan Cote D' Ivoire located in West Africa. Here in
this bank existed a dormant account for many years, which belonged to
one of our late foreign customers. The amount in this account stands
at $ 30 million dollars US Dollars)

I want a foreign account where the bank will transfer this fund. I
know you would be surprised to read this message, especially from
someone relatively unknown to you. But, do not worry yourself so much.
This is a genuine, risk free and legal business transaction.

Further details of the transfer will be forwarded to you as soon as i
receive your response.

Regards

Miss Ruth James.

Anti-fraud resources: