Advance Fee or "Nigerian" Fraud

Advance Fee Fraud, also known as "Nigerian" Fraud, is where victims are enticed into believing they have been singled out from the masses to share in multi-million dollar windfall profits for doing absolutely nothing. Criminals attempt to steal bank accounts and other personal information from victims while promising them a large cash payment. This fraud also is called "419 Fraud".

The United States Secret Service maintains a webpage describing this kind of electronic fraud.

If you have fallen prey to this fraud, you should contact your local Secret Service field office immediately.

If you receive an email message that you believe to be a form of Advance Fee Fraud, you should just delete it. Also, you can forward the mail message, including its full email headers, to 419.fcd@usss.treas.gov.
Note, you should not expect a response from the Secret Service when submitting email through this address.