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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: William Cheung <Nicole.Stout@bvsd.org>
Reply-To: <williamcheg177@gala.net>
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2011 02:08:17 +0100
Subject: Letter from Hong Kong

Hello my friend, my name is William Cheung and I live in Hong Kong.
I am writting you because I want you to assist me in a business project
of 44.5 Million Dollars. You will have 50% after we finish the business as your share.
If you are interested for the details, please contact be back through my private
e-mail address for details williamcheg33@yahoo.com.hk or williamcheg73@aol.com Thank you very much.
Mr. William Cheung

Anti-fraud resources: