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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: "wilson methu" <wilsonmethu19@hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 09 Feb 2006 11:21:38 +0000
Subject: Mutual Assistance

AFRICA DEVELOPMENT BANK GROUP
MOKOYA TOWERS, SUITE 068,
BRAAMFOINTEEN, JOHHANESBURG 2000


HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL MEMO

ATTN: DIRECTOR/CEO

Dear Confidant,

I wish to solicit for your assistance in the transaction which l strongly
believes will be of mutual benefit to both of us if treated with trust and
confidentiality that it deserve. I am Mr.wilson methu (FCAA), the chief
accountant of African Development Bank (AFDB). I and my colleague wish to
seek your assistance in the transfer of some huge sum of money into a
foreign bank account.

This money was deposited Eight years ago in a fixed deposit account in my
bank by an Oil consultant/contractor with the South African Mining
Corporation. (Name deliberately withheld for now) The length of time for the
maturity of the fixed deposit was Six years, which expired towards the
ending of last year. Upon maturity, a routine notification was sent to his
forwarding address but got no reply.

After a month, a reminder was also sent and finally we discovered from his
Contract employers - The South African Mining Corporation that the Depositor
died in since 2000. On further investigation, I found out that the
depositor/beneficiary actually died in a plane crash, in May 2000 and he
left nobody as next-of-kin to claim this money. All efforts made to trace
any known relations of his proved abortive, and no one has written our bank
in this regard.

Hence, this said money is still lying in my Bank and the interest is being
rolled over with the principal sum at the end of each year. Now it’s clear
no one will ever come forward to claim it. And according to the Laws of
Republic of South Africa, the money will revert to the ownership of The
South African Government if nobody applies to claim the fund.

All modalities for the successful transfer of this money into an offshore
bank account have been put in place and we are looking for a trust worthy
foreign partner into whose bank account this fund would be remitted to and
it is this regard that my colleague has mandated me to provide a partner who
will assist us. We have agreed to compensate you with 25% of the total
amount if you should accept to assist us.

If you are interested in giving us the required assistance, kindly reply
these mails stating your Telephone/Fax numbers for further action. Because
of the secrecy surrounding this transaction, l suggests that you contact me
only through this e-mail, until further notice.

I am looking forward to a favorable reply from you soon. Feel free to ask
any question in this regard.

I remain,
Yours Faithfully,
Mr.wilson methu

_________________________________________________________________
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