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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: "Mr. Yuen John Cheng." (may be fake)
Reply-To: <yuenjohncheng@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 4 Oct 2023 10:01:57 -0700
Subject: From Yuen John Cheng About Your Inheritance

Attn: Please,

Thanks for the response., A CHINES Oil consultant/contractor with the (PRC) Solid Minerals Corporation, Mr. David Moore made a numbered time (Fixed)Deposit for twelve calendar months, valued at $14.9,000,000.00 (Fourteen Million Nine Hundred Thousand Dollars) in my branch. Upon maturity, I sent a routine notification to his forwarding address but got no reply. After a month,we sent a reminder and finally we discovered from his contract employers, the PRC Solid Minerals Corporation that Mr. David Moore died from an automobile accident. On further investigation, I found out that he died without making a WILL, and all attempts to trace his next of kin was fruitless.

I therefore made further investigation and discovered that Mr. David Moore did not declare any kin or relations in all his official documents, including his Bank Deposit paperwork in my Bank. This sum of US$14.9,000,000.00 is still sitting in my Bank and the interest is being rolled over with the principal sum at the end of each year. No one will ever come forward to claim it. According to Laws of Republic of China, at the expiration of 5 (five) years, the money will revert to the ownership of the Chines Government if nobody applies to claim the fund.

To enable us to apply for the funds on your favor, I need you to reconfirm the below information to me quickly so that I may fill them on the bank system which will enable us to formally apply for the funds on your favor. (1) your names in full (2) your occupation and your place of work (3) office or residential address (4) your age (5) marital status (6) your contact numbers. I also wish to state on record that you will be entitled to 50% of the total sum transferred to your account, whereas I will equally be entitled to 50%. Most importantly, I will fly down to meet with you in your country once the wire transfer is done to your account so that we may share the funds on the agreed percentage.

Sincerely,

Mr. Yuen John Cheng.
Group Managing Director/Chief Executive,
Officer Chines Exchange Bank.

Anti-fraud resources: