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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 about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: john randy <johnrandy001@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 2006 04:55:15 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Dear Friend Assist Please


>From the Desk of Mr.John Randy
Head Corporate & Investment Banking
Union Togolaise Bank , Lome Togo.
Phone:+228-915-4178

Dear Friend ,

Permit me to introduce myself to you. My name is Mr.John Randy, Head of Corporate & Investment Banking Dept. Union Togolaise Bank, Lome Togo. This letter may come to you as a surprise since it is coming from someone you have not met before ,not to worry .I will appreciate it if you honor it and give me all your trust and full attention. I came to know about you in my private search for a reliable person/company to handle a confidential transaction on behalf of my Colleagues and myself. As a matter of fact, I got your contact from the world trade center (WTC) Regional office in Lome, Togo.
Although the details of my intention was not made known to them so they are not aware of this proposal for security reasons.We need your help to transferthe sum of Twelve million five hundred thousand United State Dollars in a domiciliary account belonging to one American ,Mr. Morris Thompson who was a consultant/contractor with TOGO GOVERMENT of which I am the account officer, he unfortunately lost his life in the plane crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261 which crash on January 31 2000,including his wife and only daughter leaving nobody to claim the money. He named his wife, as the next of kin. Unfortunately, two of them died in a plane crash you can confirm it yourself via website http://www.cnn.com/2000/US/02/01/alaska.airlines.list/
Efforts had been made by the management of my Bank through the American Embassy to contact any of the deceased children but to no avail, as we were made to understand that the couple had no children.

Given the skeletal information available to the Bank, it has so far been impossible to reach any of the relatives. The option left for the Bank management is to declare the deceased account dormant and revert the funds to trading on behalf of and in the interest of the Bank. The option left for the Bank management is to declare the deceased account dormant and revert the funds to trading on behalf of and in the interest of the Bank.

In Togo, and almost all other parts of African continent, when Banks acquire funds such as that of Mr. Morris Thompson, they are required by law to donate 30% of the funds on acquisition to The Trust Fund For Arms And Ammunitions. Arms and ammunitions purchased with funds from the Trust Fund are used to further enhance the course of war in Africa and invariably turbulence of some sort in the world in general. It is therefore in order to avoid/avert and discourage this negative development that my Colleagues and I nowseek your assistance to have you stand as a distant relative {Next Of Kin} to Mr. Morris Thompson, so that the funds would be released to you. All documents and proofs to enable you get the funds will be carefully packaged once we receive your consent on this proposal.

May I assured you that this Transaction is 100% safe and risk-free, as we have taken care of all necessary modalities to ensure a hitch-free transaction. I have the authority of my partners involved in this transaction to propose that should you be willing to assist us in the transaction your share would be 40% of the Twelve million five hundred thousand United State Dollars 60% for us. I have reposed my confidence in you and hope that you will not disappoint me. Send the following informations immedately to this e-mail address: john_randy@accountant.com

1 Your full name
2 Address(Home and Office)
3 Telephone and Fax Numbers

Best Regards,

Mr.John Randy

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