What is a Advance Fee Scams (419)?
How It Works — Step by Step
- Receive email/message about unclaimed inheritance, lottery win, or government grant you qualify for
- To claim the money, you must pay a small 'processing fee,' 'transfer tax,' or 'legal clearance'
- After paying, new fees appear: customs duties, anti-terrorism clearance, delivery insurance
- Each fee payment leads to another, often for months
- The promised large sum never materializes
Top Countries (Victims)
Top Platforms Used
⚠️ Warning Signs
- Unsolicited message claiming you've won something you never entered
- Request for upfront fees to receive money
- Poor grammar and generic formatting
- Sender in a foreign country asking for wire transfer or gift cards
- Story involves a dying/deceased wealthy person with no heirs
- Asks for secrecy and not to tell anyone
✅ How to Protect Yourself
- You cannot win a lottery you didn't enter
- Legitimate inheritances and government grants never require advance payment
- Never pay to receive a prize — this is always a scam
- Delete these emails and messages without responding
Real Cases from Our Database
Scam “Fund Beneficiary” email. Repost: removed identifiable information. Received the following “Fund Beneficiary” email. My hope is by pointing out the red flags this will help someone. Red flags t...
Scam “Fund Beneficiary” Email Received the following “Fund Beneficiary” email. My hope is by pointing out the red flags this will help someone. Red flags that make this email look like a advance fee...
Woooooo sign me up! Got this inheritance scam via fax at my company. Had a chuckle.
I have legit stalkers so I don't know? This is the thing to know beforehand. I'm not linked to him ( as in friends list) Facebook. ( For this reason) I talk to him in facebook messenger. And talk t...
[US] American Airlines Lounge and their scammy business practices I had posted this in the travel subs and hopefully this helps others avoid losing a small bit of change and a headache. I had a couple...
Help Please Me with my 72 yr Old Father I’m trying to figure out at what point it becomes appropriate to consider conservatorship/guardianship for a parent who is repeatedly being financially exploite...
Scam - Facebook account? Hi everyone, I got this whatsapp message from a „verified“ business account that named itself facebook. Clearly a scam account, no question. The message was something along th...
[EU] Scam attempt - my phone number on a scammers FB account Hi everyone, I got this whatsapp message from a „verified“ business account that named itself facebook. Clearly a scam account, no question...
[BC Canada]. Iristel inc. number appeared in my contacts I just noticed a strange number in my list of contacts that is called 460 794 456# and the number is (two five zero) non hundred- four thousand...
Got a call from this number but unsure as to what their scam is Just got a call from this number. Unsure as to what their scam is but I called it back from another number and heard piano music followe...
[US] I’ve been sextorted, is my life over? So I think you know how it goes, I get contact with someone who I thought was a girl on Telegram and they get access to my nudes because I sent them. I was b...
[US] Artist wanted to Paint me Scam An alleged Artist reached out to me on instagram wanting to draw, leads me to her supposed client. That was paying me $400 in the form of a paycheck. Then telling m...
📋 Where to Report Advance Fee Scams (419)
- FTC (reportfraud.ftc.gov)
- FBI IC3 (ic3.gov)
- Your email provider (report as spam)