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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: "James Ahmed" <j_ahmed1@msn.com>
Reply-To: jamesahmed@walla.com
Date: Fri, 20 Jan 2006 23:35:42 +0000
Subject: CAN I TRUST YOU?

CAN I TRUST YOU?

FROM THE DESK OF JAMES AHMED.
WEMA BANK PLC,
LAGOS, NIGERIA.
EMAIL: <jamesahmed@walla.com>

DEAR FRIEND,

STRICTLY A PRIVATE BUSINESS PROPOSAL,

I AM JAMES AHMED, THE MANAGER, BILLS AND EXCHANGE AT THE FOREIGN
REMITTANCE DEPARTMENT OF THE WEMA BANK PLC.

I AM WRITING THIS LETTER TO ASK FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND COOPERATION TO
CARRY OUT THIS BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY IN MY DEPARTMENT.

WE DISCOVERED AN ABANDONED SUM OF $15,000,000.00 (FIFTEEN MILLION
UNITED STATES DOLLARS ONLY) IN AN ACCOUNT THAT BELONGS TO ONE OF OUR
FOREIGN CUSTOMERS WHO DIED ALONG WITH HIS ENTIRE FAMILY OF A WIFE AND
TWO CHILDREN IN NOVEMBER 1997 IN A MOTOR ACCIDENT.

SINCE WE HEARD OF HIS DEATH, WE HAVE BEEN EXPECTING HIS NEXT-OF-KIN TO
COME OVER AND PUT CLAIMS FOR HIS MONEY AS THE HEIR,BECAUSE WE CANNOT
RELEASE THE FUND FROM HIS ACCOUNT UNLESS SOMEONE APPLIES FOR CLAIM AS
THE NEXT-OF-KIN TO THE DECEASED AS INDICATED IN OUR BANKING GUIDELINES.

UNFORTUNATELY, NEITHER THEIR FAMILY MEMBER NOR DISTANT RELATIVE HAS
EVER APPEARED TO CLAIM THE SAID FUND.

UPON THIS DISCOVERY ,I AND OTHER OFFICIALS IN MY DEPARTMENT HAVE
AGREED TO MAKE BUSINESS WITH YOU AND RELEASE THE TOTAL AMOUNT INTO
YOUR ACCOUNT AS THE HEIR OF THE FUND SINCE NO ONE CAME FOR IT OR
DISCOVERED HE MAINTAINED ACCOUNT WITH OUR BANK, OTHERWISE THE FUND
WILL BE RETURNED TO THE BANKS
TREASURY AS UNCLAIMED FUND.

WE HAVE AGREED THAT OUR RATIO OF SHARING WILL BE AS STATED THUS; 30 %
FOR YOU AS FOREIGN PARTNER, 60 % FOR US THE OFFICIALS IN MY
DEPARTMENT AND 10% FOR THE SETTLEMENT OF ALL LOCAL AND FOREIGN
EXPENCES INCURRED BY US AND YOU DURING THE COURSE OF THIS BUSINESS.

UPON THE SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THIS TRANSFER, I AND ONE OF MY
COLLEAGUES WILL COME TO YOUR COUNTRY AND MIND OUR SHARE.

IT IS FROM OUR 60 % WE INTEND TO IMPORT AGRICULTURAL MACHINERIES INTO
MY COUNTRY AS A WAY OF RECYCLING THE FUND.

TO COMMENCE THIS TRANSACTION, WE REQUIRE YOU TO MEDIATELY INDICATE
YOUR INTEREST BY A RETURN E-MAIL AND ENCLOSE THE FOLLOWING:

1.YOUR PRIVATE CONTACT TELEPHONE NUMBER, FAX NUMBER.

2.YOUR FULL NAME AND RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS.

3. YOUR ACCOUNT NUMBER AND YOUR DESIGNATED BANK COORDINATES.

4. A COPY OF INTERNATIONAL YOUR PASSPORT/ DRIVER LICENCE.

TO ENABLE US FILE LETTER OF CLAIM TO THE APPROPRIATE DEPARTMENT FOR
NECESSARY APPROVALS BEFORE THE TRANSFER CAN BE MADE.

NOTE ALSO, THIS TRANSACTION MUST BE KEPT STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL
BECAUSE OF IT'S NATURE.

I LOOK FORWARD TO RECEIVING YOUR PROMPT RESPONSE.

REGARDS,

MR. JAMES AHMED.
WEMA BANK PLC.

NB.
PLEASE, REPLY TO THIS MY PRIVATE E-MAIL BELLOW:
<jamesahmed@walla.com>


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