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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: George Obongo <karimousanogo55@gmail.com>
Reply-To: george1obongo@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 4 Jul 2024 16:47:58 +0200
Subject: I need your help

Dear Sir

I am George Obongo, personal assistant to Sylvia Bongo Ondimba, wife to Ali
Bongo Ondimba, the ousted president of Republic of Gabon.

I urgently need a foreign partner to secure some funds deposited in a safe
vault overseas for investment worth US$15,000,000.00.

Note that this is privileged information and should be kept confidential.

I will provide further details when I hear from you.

Best regards

George Obongo

Anti-fraud resources: