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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: "Mr.J. Chan" <info@admin.com>
Reply-To: info_jmchan@yahoo.com
Date: Wed, 24 Feb 2010 01:30:39 -0000 (GMT)
Subject:

Dear Sir/Madam,
My name is Mr.J.M Chan (I work with a Bank as an account officer in the
Treasury/Credit Control Unit) of the Peoples Republic of China, I want to
solicit your attention to receive money on my behalf. The purpose of my
contacting you is because you live in outside China.
When you reply this message, I will send you the full details and more
information about myself and the funds.
Thank you.
Kindest regards,

From: Mr.J. Chan
Executive Director of Hang Seng Bank
Reply to: info_jmchan@yahoo.com

Anti-fraud resources: