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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: "Sir. Howard George" <howard1621@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: howard2006@katamail.com
Date: Sat, 14 Jan 2006 17:25:53 +0000
Subject: Contact Me!

Sir. Howard George
Head of Investigation Department,
HSBC Bank Plc.
London, SW17 0SP
England.
Private E-mail: george2006@katamail.com

Dear Friend,

SUBJECT: BENEFICIARY SUM OF 30 MILLION POUNDS STERLING GB.

I am seeking for your co-operation to present you to my bank as the
next of
kin/will beneficiary to Mrs.Sigrid Fassnacht, a foreign contractor from
Cologne, Germany who died on a plane crash on July 25th 2000 with her
husband Rudi Fassnacht. Her husband and their two children also
perished in
the air France Concorde New York bound flight; please click the link
below
for verification.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/859479.stm

Before her death she was a contractor to British National Petroleum
Co-operation (BNPC) and has a bank balance with my bank to the tune of
(30
million pounds sterling GB) which will be paid to you as her next of
kin/will beneficiary. For your information, I am the Head of
Investigation
Department with HSBC Bank Plc London.

The board of directors of HSBC Bank Plc which I am also a member,
mandated
me to look for any known relation of Mrs.Sigrid Fassnacht, since after
her
death. However, all my efforts traces abortive, that is the main reason
I am
writing you this to ask for your co-operation for us to claim this
money
because it will amount to injustice if I do not take this decisive step
to
secure this deposit and invest it, because if nobody comes forward to
claim
the fund it will be forfeited to the government, based on that I have
contacted you to assist me in making this transaction a reality.

I only have to approve you as the next of kin/will beneficiary and the
fund
will be paid to you as the beneficiary. We are to share this money
between
ourselves and also donate 10% to charity and the tsunami victims if you
are
really interested in this offer you should contact me through this
email
address: george2006@katamail.com

For detail of this transaction and procedures, pls provide answer to
the
questions below.
Complete Name
Address
Phone/Fax number
Company Name or Occupation.
Marital Status
Date of Birth
These info are vital to the success of this transaction.

Note that this transaction is risk free. I will commence immediately to
secure all legal documents in your favor on your acceptance to fully
co-operate with me.

I await your urgent response to enable us start this project and
nurture it
to reality.

Kind Regards,

Sir Howard George
Head of Investigation Department
HSBC Bank Plc.



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