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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.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "STEVEN YAN LEE" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <stevenyan.lee@yandex.com>
Date: Sun, 2 Aug 2015 08:36:17 -0500
Subject: Hello(Please Read)

Dear Sir,
Accept my sincere apology for this unsolicited letter to you, I am aware
that this is certainly not a conventional way of approach to establish a
relationship of trust but you will realize the need for my action. My names
are Mr. Steven Yan Lee Director for Credit & Marketing ,Wing Lung Bank Ltd.
45 Des Voeux Road Central, Hong Kong.  I got your contact information’s
through the Canadian public records while searching for any sincere person
who can stand as the next of kin to my late client.  I am writing to you in
regards to my deceased client, Engr. Hughes, an Oil Magnate who lived in
Hong Kong for twenty-eight years, he died along with his immediate family
during the Tsunami catastrophe which occurred December 2004.
Before his demise, he deposited the sum of ($38,980,369.00 (Thirty Eight
Million, Nine Hundred and Eighty Thousand, Three Hundred and Sixty Nine
USD)  placed under our Bank Management . The  institution being aware of 
his death have mandated me  to  present  a member of his family
(heir/inheritor)or Next of kin to make Claims of his funds with our bank
otherwise, it will be forfeited, seized or confiscated by the authorities
and reverts to the treasury of the Hong Kong  Ministry  as unclaimed.  This
is because in accordance with the Hong Kong  law, such fortune is
automatically bequeathed to the government if there is no heir or Next of
kin to the deceased that would surface to claim the fortune within the
specified time. However, this law is unjust and inhuman as it often creates
an avenue for the top officials of some financial institutions to divert
such fortunes for their own selfish use. On that ground, I decided to
search for any of my late client's relative which has proved abortive as he
did not declare officially any Next of kin or beneficiary.
I am contacting you now to stand as the next of kin of my late client; I
know you might not be related but after countless efforts to locate direct
relative to my late client and a (3) Three months final notice from the
Bank to present a beneficiary to the fund, and failure to meet up with this
deadline means the fund will be liquidated to the Bureau as unclaimed fund 
and that I forbid happening.  Against this backdrop, I decided to contact
you to join me to put claims on this deposit before it`s forfeited to the
authorities.
My suggestion to you is, I will like to present you as the Next of Kin and
beneficiary to this deposit, since you are both foreign nationals and  by
virtue of my position as the Director for Credit & Marketing, I will now
place your name as the Next of kin/Beneficiary to my late client and I will
prepare the relevant legal documentations that will assist to facilitate
the release of the fund to you without any breach of the law.
Note, I have worked out all modalities to complete the transaction
successfully, be rest assured that the transaction is 100% legal and risk
free. Once the vault is released to you, we shall share in the ratio of 50%
for me, 45% for you while remaining 5% will be set aside for any expenses
incurred during the cause of securing this deposit. If my proposal is
acceptable to you, kindly reply via  my provided emails below:
 
stevenyan.lee@yandex.com.
 
Regards Sincerely
Mr. Steven Yan Lee.

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