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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. Hsu Chien" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <tuchienhwaa@yahoo.com.tw>
Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2013 10:09:50 -0000
Subject: Re: Confirm Receipt Of This Email

Hello,
The sensitivity & nature of this transaction warrant that I not disclose much until I hear from you, I am obligated to
execute this transaction with a foreigner hence my contacting you for this 25Mil USD transaction. If you are willing to
partner with me, kindly send in your Name and country of residence to my personal email account below.
tuchienhwaa@yahoo.com.tw

I will appreciate your email be sent directly to my email address above.

Regards,
Mr. Hsu Chien

Anti-fraud resources: