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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.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "Bani Koofi" <bani_koofi@yahoo.co.uk> (may be fake)
Date: Mon, 3 Oct 2005 12:08:04 -0700
Subject: PRIVATE INVESTMENT

I AM MR KOOFI BANI THE BRANCH MANAGER,FOREIGN
REMITTANCE DEPARTMENT OF A PRIME BANK
IN AFRICA.I WANT TO PROPOSE A BUSINESS TO YOU IN WHICH
YOU WILL PROVIDE US WITH AN OVERSEAS BANK ACCOUNT FOR
US TO TRANSFER SOME MONEY WHICH HAS BEEN LYING IDLE IN
A DORMANT ACCOUNT IN MY BRANCH.THIS
MIGHT COME AS A SURPRISE TO YOU BUT I SHALL EXPALIN
TO YOU IF YOU RESPOND TO ME AND I SHALL DISCLOSE THE
NAME OF THE BANK AND OTHER DETAILS.THE AMOUNT IS
11m.USD [ELEVEN MILLION US DOLLARS].

THIS ACCOUNT HAS BEEN DORMANT SINCE 1999 AND I WANT
SOMEBODY FROM ASIA,EUROPE OR AMERICA TO COOPERATE WITH
ME ON THIS.WE SHALL BOTH HAVE MUTUAL BENEFIT FROM
THIS.I SHALL GIVE YOU 30% OF THE MONEY AND WE SHALL
SET ASIDE 5% FOR ANY EXPENSES AND 65% SHALL BE FOR ME
IF YOU COOPERATE WITH ME AND ACT TRUTHFULLY WITH ME
.THE OWNER
OF THIS ACCOUNT PASSED ON IN 1999 AND SINCE THEN NO
ONE HAS COME TO CLAIM HIS ESTATES AND INVESTMENTS.I AM
REALLY ANXIOUS AND COUNTING ON YOU TO WRITE BACK.THANK
YOU.

MR KOOFI BANI


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Anti-fraud resources: