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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: "De Wet, Michael" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mdewetm@aol.com>
Date: Mon, 1 Aug 2016 05:51:21 -0500
Subject: 08/01/2016 LETTER

Wilkins & Associates Law Firm,
International Corporate & Business Law Firm Johannesburg South Africa,
Securities Corporate Finance & Business Law Domestic and International Business Practice.

Hello

How are you doing today? My Name is Michael De Wet, a Lawyer with Wilkins & Associates Law Firm. You may find my email hard to believe but I assure you that this is a legit busines proposal which your assistance will be greatly appreciated and rewarded. We have a deceased client, a foreigner member of Gulf States and member of South Africa's National Oil Company, who died and left a Sum Amount of Ten Million Five Hundred Thousand United State Dollars in an Account under our Law Firm.

Since his death I have received several letters from the Bank where he deposited the fund before his death, to provide his next of kin or any of his relatives who can make claim to the funds before the end of the Month or the Bank will be left with no option than to confiscate the fund and the fund would be reverted to the possession of the South African Government if nobody applies as the beneficiary to the funds.

Therefore I seek your assistance as a foreign partner to claim this funds since the Decease did not leave a will or a next of kin. On successful compeltion of the transferof the fund to your bank account, the fund will be shared in the ratio of 50% for me and 50% for you. Contact me if you are interested with your Full Name, Telephone Number, Home Address and Country, this is a deal between me and you, again we have only few weeks to move this fund out.

Best Regards,
Barrister Michael De Wet


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Wilkins & Associates Law Firm provides sophisticated and comprehensive advice to companies and individuals in their day-to-day business, in Libya,Egypt, South Sudan, South Africa, USA, London, combining high quality legal services with a direct relationship with the clients our personalized attention, competitive.
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