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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: Paul Eze <ezepaul881@gmail.com>
Reply-To: eze689202@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2023 00:15:51 +0100
Subject: Await Your Response

Dear Email Owner/Fund Beneficiary,

You are among those whose pending payment has been approved by the
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND (IMF) in conjunction with the WORLD BANK.
The release of your fund has been delayed either as a result of your
dealing with unauthorized individuals or unawareness of your current
fund and its value. You are advised to stop further communication with
anybody or institution regarding the payment.

Note that these funds constitute unpaid Insurance, Pension, Contract
sums, Inheritance/next of kin and Lottery beneficiaries that
originated from Europe, Asia Plus Middle East, America and Africa. Be
notified then You are among the list of individuals and companies
whose unpaid funds have been approved for payment under the
supervision of the International Monetary Fund Headquarters here in
Washington, DC USA.

We request that you contact this office within 48 hours of receiving
this notification.

On contacting us, please confirm your full name and contact telephone
number to enable us to normalize the documents in your name and advise
you on how to make your claim.

Yours faithfully,
Dr. Paul Eze
Coordinator, International Settlement Unit

Anti-fraud resources: