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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: "Dr. MICHAEL CHERRY" <cherrmic@yahoo.co.in>
Date: Thu, 21 Jul 2005 12:35:14 +0100 (BST)
Subject: Reply


HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL
This mail may come to you as a surprise but I plead with you to patiently read
through it before making a decision whether to assist me or not.

I am Dr. MICHAEL CHERRY, a Bank Manager of a Reputable Bank in Johannesburg,Gauteng Province, in the Republic of South Africa. l wish to solicit for your assistance in the transaction which l strongly believe will be of mutual benefit to both of us if treated with trust and confidentiality that it deserve.
On June 6, 2000, a British Oil consultant/contractor with the South African Mining Corporation, (Name deliberately with held for now) made a numbered time (Fixed) Deposit for Twelve Calendar months, valued at US$6,500,000.00 (Six
Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars) in my branch. Upon maturity, I sent a routine notification to his forwarding address but got no reply.
After a month, we sent a reminder and finally we discovered from his Contract
employers, the South African Mining Corporation, that the Depositor died from an automobile accident. On further investigation, I found out that He died without making a WILL, and all attempts to trace his next of kin was
fruitless.
I therefore made further investigation and discovered that the
depositor did not
declare any kin or relations in all his official documents. This money (US$6,500,000.00) is still lying in my Bank and the interest is being rolled over with the principal sum at the end of each year. No one will ever come forward to claim it. And according to Laws of Republic of South Africa, at the
expiration of 5(five) Years, the money will revert to the ownership of The South African Government if nobody applies to claim the fund.
Consequently, my proposal is that I would like you as a foreigner to stand in as THE NEXT OF KIN to the depositor so that the fruits of this old man's labor will not get into the hands of some corrupt government officials. An offshore bank account in any part of the world that you will provide will then facilitate the transfer of this money to you as the beneficiary/next of kin.
The money will be paid into your account for us to share in the ratio of 65% for me and 35% for you. There is no risk at all as all the paperwork for this transaction will be done by the bank accredited attorney and my position as the

Branch Manager guarantees the successful execution of this transaction.
I am looking forward to a favorable reply from you soon. Feel free to ask anyquestion in this regard.

Yours Faithfully,

Dr. MICHAEL CHERRY




















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