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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" <susan_shabangu05@handbag.com>
Reply-To: susan_shabangu1@sify.com
Date: Mon, 23 May 2005 21:31:26 -0700
Subject: From Mrs. Susan Shabangu

From: Mrs. Susan Shabangu

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.I got your contacts through my personal
research through the internet 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 the Deputy
Minister of Minerals and Energy of 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. Ndelebe 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 Trinidad and
Tobago in February 2001.

YOU CAN GO THROUH MY WEB SITE:
www.gov.za/gol/gcis_profile.jsp?id=1066

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 in a trunk box, is stocked with hard currency(US
Dollars) totalling $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.

YOUR ROLE IN THIS BUSINESS.

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.
For your reliable assistance,we are offering you 25% 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 to you the full details of
this transaction and the certificate of deposit as well as the contact of
the security company in Europe.
I 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 for
now.This is why I have communicated with you with my private email
address.
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.

With warm regards,
Mrs. S. Shabangu
susan_shabangu1@sify.com

___________________________________________________________

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