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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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Fraud email example:

From: sussha@tiscali.ch
Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 16:06:45 +0200
Subject: I, await your response

Mrs. Susan Shabangu
16 MCKELELE Street.
CAPE TOWN. South Africa.

13TH APRIL, 2005.
Hello,

With warm heart I offer my friendship, and greetings, and I hope this mail
meets you in good health.

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 and I.

After careful consideration with my children, we resolved to contact you
for your most needed assistance in this manner. I duly apologize for infringingon
your privacy if this contact is not acceptable to you, as I make thisproposal
to you as a person of integrity. I got your contacts through my personal
research and out of desperation decided to reach you through this
medium.

First and foremost I wish to introduce myself properly to you. My name is
Mrs. Susan Shabangu, mother of three and a civil servan working for the
Republic of South Africa for seven years 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. Simon 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 husbands business which
was very vast and successful. My beloved husband died whilst on an official
trip to the far East last year in the Tsunami that occurrred and claimed
lots of lives.

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.

I went 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. The safety deposit
which is in trunks containing the sum of $18,000,000 which was generated
from cash payments from his business associates in the diamond trade from
Antwerp, Belgium. 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 mutual benefit and interest.

For your reliable assistance, we are offering you 20% 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 our Personal Assistant
who will be representing us, and also work with you to actualise this 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 with my private email address, and I like us to keep this way,
for the safety of this transaction. Whether or not you are interested in
assisting us please let us know. This will enable us make alternative plans,
in the event of non-interest on your part.

Please respond via this private e-mail address.

With warm regards,

Mrs. S. Shabangu.




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