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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: themdarl@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 29 Apr 2005 01:59:45 +0200
Subject: PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL

(PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL)
THEMPO DARLINGTON
77 ABEL ROAD
YEOVILLE, JHB
SOUTH AFRICA
TEL: 09-27-72-946-8329
email address:themdarl@yahoo.com

Dear Sir/Madam,

With due respect my name is THEMPO DARLINGTON, the eldest son of MR.ANDREW DARLINGTON of
ZIMBABWE. It might be a surprise to you where I got your contact address; I got it from
the South African Information Network Online (SAINO) at South African Trade Center. And
it is coming to you with good intention.

During the current crisis against the farmers of Zimbabwe by the supporters of our
President, ROBERT MUGABE to claim all the white owned farms in our country. He ordered
all the white farmers to surrender their farms to his party members and their followers.
My father was one of the greatest and best farmers in the country and he did not support
the President's political ideology, and the President's supporters invaded my father's
farm and burnt down everything, shot him and as a result of the injuries sustained, he
became sick and died after five days. And after his death, my younger brother and I
decided to move out of Zimbabwe for the safety of our lives to South Africa.

But before he died he wrote his will, which reads "MY BELOVEED SON, I WISH TO DRAW YOUR
ATTENTION TO THE SUM OF US$25,000,000.00 (TWENTY FIVE MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS ONLY)
WHICH I DEPOSITED IN A BOX WITH A SECURITY COMPANY IN JOHANNESBURG SOUTH AFRICA IN CASE OF
MY ABSENCE ON EARTH CAUSED BY DEATH ONLY.YOU SHOULD SOLICIT FOR A RELIABLE FOREIGN PARTNER
TO ASSIST YOU TO TRANSFERTHIS MONEY OUT OF SOUTH AFRICA FOR INVESTMENT PURPOSES. I DEPOSITED
THE MONEY IN YOUR NAME AND YOU CAN CLAIM IT ALONE WITH THE DEPOSIT CODE. YOUR MOTHER HAS ALL
THE DECUMENTS. TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOUR MOTHER AND BROTHER".

From the above, you will understand that the lives and future of my family depends on this
money and I will be very grateful if you can assist us. My younger brother and I are now
living in South Africa as POLITICAL ASYLUM SEEKERS and the financial law of SOUTH AFRICA does
not allow ASYLUM SEEKERS certain financial rights to such huge amount of money.

In view of this, I cannot invest this money in South- Africa, hence I am asking you to assist
me to transfer this money out of South- Africa for investment purposes. For your efforts, I am
prepared to offer you 20% of the total fund, while 5% will be set aside for local and
international expenses and 75% will be kept for my family.

Finally, modalities on how the transfer will be done will be conveyed to you once we establish
trust and confidence between ourselves. Looking forward to your urgent reply. For detailed
information, please contact me on my direct line 009-27-72-946-8329.

NOTE: THE KEY WORD TO THIS TRANSACTION IS ABSOLUTE CONFIDENTIALITY AND SECRECY. THIS
TRANSACTION IS 100% RISK FREE. YOUR URGENT RESPONSE WILL BE HIGHLY
APPRECIATED.

All the best,
THEMPO DARLINGTON.
(FOR THE FAMILY).

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