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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: "Zhang Wei" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <4zhangwei@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 2015 02:03:19 +0800
Subject: What do you think about this mail, I am waiting to hear for you

I'm Zhang Wei an attorney at law.A deceased client of mine died as a
result of heart-related condition on March 12th 2014 leaving behind, a
deposit of $19 million dollars,his heart condition was due to the
death of all the members of his family in the typhoon Haiyan disaster on
the 10th Nov, 2013. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/10/us-philippines-typhoon-idUSBRE9A603Q20131110
 
I need your assistance in distributing the money left behind by my late client.
 
Regards

Anti-fraud resources: