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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: peterzw5 <peterzw5@bol.com.br>
Date: Fri, 6 Aug 2010 02:03:13 -0300
Subject: Attn Please:

Attn Please:

How are you doing today? Its my pleasure to write you this morning, but before I proceed I must first apologize for this unsolicited mail to you,I am aware that this is certainly an unconventional approach to start a relationship, but as time goes on you will realize the need for my action.

I am Barrister Peter Zwennes, a legal practitioner,and the personal attorney to the late Mr. Jose C Luis, a national Of your country, who used to work with a Gold Mining Company here in Accra Ghana,he used to be  my client.

On the 21th October, 2006, my client, his wife and their only daughter were involved in a c ar accident along Kumasi expres s Road here in Ghana.

All occupants of the vehicle unfortunately lost their lives. Since then I have made several inquiries to your embassy here in Ghana to see if i could locate any of his family o r my cli ents extended relatives, this has also proved abortive.

After these several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to track his last name over the Internet, to locate any member of his family hence I contacted you.

I have contacted you to assist in repatriating the fund valued at US$6.5 million left behind by my client before it gets confiscated or declared unservicea ble by the GHANA COMMERCIAL BANK  LTD where this huge amount were deposited.

The said GHANA COMMERCIAL BANK  LTD has iss ued me a notice to p rovide the next of kin or have this funds confiscated into the Government treasury box within the next twenty one (21) working days.

Since I have been unsuccessful in locating the relatives for over 2years now, I seek the consent to present you as the next of kin to the deceased , so that the proceeds of this account can be paid to you.

I have all necessary information's and legal documents neede d to back you up fo r the claim.
All I require from you is your honest cooperation to enable us see this transactio n through.

I guarantee that this will be executed under legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law. I will expecting your urgent response asap to enable me proceed.

Best Regards,
Peter Zwennes

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