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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.

 

 

Fraud email example:

From: "Mrs. Susan Shabangu." <susanshangu01@yahoo.com> (may be fake)
Reply-To: susanshabangux@yahoo.com
Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2005 11:54:14 +0000
Subject: RE:INVESTMENT PROPOSAL


ATTN:My good Friend,

Greetings to you,With warm heart I offer my friendship, and greetings,and I hope this mail meets you in good time.
However strange or surprising this contact might seem to you as we have not met personally or had any dealings in the past,
I humbly ask that you take due consideration of its importance and the immense benefit it will be to you.

After careful consideration with my children, we resolved to contact you for your most needed assistance in this manner.
I duly apologize for infringing on your privacy, if this contact is not acceptable to you, as I make this proposal to you as a person of integrity.

First and foremost I wish to introduce myself properly to you. My name is Mrs. Susan Shabangu, mother of three and
the Deputy Minister of Minerals and Energy of The Republic of South Africa for seven years runningYou can
go through my profile www.gov.za/gol/gcis_profile.jsp?id=1066 } I will now give you a general overview of the situation.
When I was sworn in as Deputy Minister of Minerals and Energy in 1996, with my influence,
my husband Mr.Ndelebe Shabangu a very successful businessman was awarded several contracts in my ministry
and had direct dealings with foreign investors in this field. Due to my political status, I was not involved in my husband's
business which was very vast and successful.

My beloved husband died whilst on an official trip to Trinidad and Tobago in February 2001.
When my husband died, I was contacted as next of kin by a private security firm in Europe to come
forth with the Certificate of Deposit and claim a safety deposit my husband has in their Vault in his name.
At that time, my children and I did not have an idea where the Certificate might be. We then instructed the
security firm to continue holding the safety deposit until further instructions from me. Whilst preparing for the second
remembrance of my beloved husband, I was going through his library collection and to my astonishment
I discovered a ,Certificate of Deposit for the safety deposit with this private security firm, and other documents
relating to the safety deposit in a book.

The safety deposit which is a trunk, is stocked with hard currency (US Dollars)totalling $18,500,000 which was
generated from cash payments from his business associates in the diamond trade. Though I knew my late husband
was in the diamond business, I did not have the knowledge that he moved funds in cash. This has came as a shock
to me and my children, and we have decided to have this fund invested immediately in commercial and residential properties
abroad as well as profitable ventures, as any member of my family cannot hold such a huge amount in our name due to my political status,
hence we sincerely propose to you to render us your most needed assistance in this regard.If you agree to render us your assistance,
your role in this project will be to act on my behalf as a trustee to receive the safety deposit containing the funds from the Security firm.
Though I believe this transaction should be based on mutuality, my family's interest will be protected by a family associate, who is a diplomat.
He is now aware of the safety deposit, and I have informed him that I am locating one of my husband's business associates (you) to handle
the funds and invest on our behalf, as he might be opposed to our decision if he found out that I barely know you. The part of services the diplomat is
required to render is to assist you in claiming the consignments from the terminal of the security company and to set up a transit domiciliary account
in your name in one of the prime bank he has contacts to carry out the exercise through the back door.

The purpose of the account is to enable you deposit the funds for further transfer into your nominated bank For your reliable assistance,
we are offering you 15 %($2,775,000) of the funds. I thank you in advance as we anticipate your assistance in enabling us achieve this goal.
On hearing from you, I will forward your contact to the diplomat who will be representing us, and also give you his contact for both of you to
communicate and proceed with the transaction. He will be working with you for a mutual conclusion of the process and I look forward to a long
lasting business relationship with you. As you may understand, due to my sensitive position in the present government,

it is not safe to communicate with me via phone or fax. This is why I have communicated with you,please all your corespondence should
be forwarded to my private email address,susanshabangux@yahoo.com.otherwise i might not be able to read your mail and I will like
us to keep this way, for the safety of this transaction. Wheither or not you are interested in assisting us. This will enable us make alternative plans,
in the event of non-interest on your part.

With warm regards,
MRS. SUSAN SHABANGU
Deputy Minister of Minerals and Energy South Africa


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