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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: "mensa" <mensa@babbalu.com>
Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2006 04:49:25 -0500
Subject: hi


BARCLAYS BANK GHANA LTD, HIGH STREET BRANCH,
TAKORADI, GHANA.
DEAR FRIEND,


MY NAME IS MR KUFOR MENSAH, I AM THE REGIONAL MANAGER OF
BARCLAYS BANK GHANA LTD,OF DAKAR BRANCH IN THE WESTERN
REGION OF TAKORADI. I WRITES YOU THIS PROPOSAL IN GOOD
FAITH,
I PACKAGED THIS FINANCIAL TRANSACTION THAT WILL BENEFIT
YOU AND I,AS THE REGIONAL MANAGER OF THE BARCLAYS BANK.
IT IS MY DUTY TO SEND IN A FINANCIAL REPORT TO MY HEAD
OFFICE IN THE CAPITAL CITY ACCRA AT THE END OF EACH
BUSINESS YEAR.
ON THE COURSE OF THE LAST YEAR BUSINESS REPORT, I
DISCOVERED THAT MY BRANCH IN WHICH I AM THE MANAGER MADE
THREE MILLION UNITED STATE DOLLARS, ($3,000.000USD) WHICH
MY HEAD OFFICE ARE NOT AWARE OF AND WILL NEVER BE AWARE OF.
I HAVE PLACED THIS FUNDS ON WHAT WE CALL ESCROW ACCOUNT
WITH NO BENEFICIARY.
AS AN OFFICER OF THIS BANK I CANNOT BE DIRECTLY CONNECTED
TO THIS MONEY, SO MY AIM OF CONTACTING YOU IS TO ASSIST ME
TO RECEIVE THIS MONEY IN YOUR BANK ACCOUNT AND GET 20% OF
THE TOTAL FUNDS AS COMMISSION.

THERE ARE PRACTICALLY NO RISK INVOLVED, IT WILL BE A BANK
TO BANK TRANSFER, ALL I NEED FROM YOU IS TO STAND AS THE
ORIGINAL DEPOSITOR WHO MADE THE DEPOSIT WITH MY BRANCH SO
THAT MY HEAD OFFICE CAN ORDER THE TRANSFER TO YOUR
DESIGNATED BANK ACCOUNT.
IF YOU ACCEPT TO WORK WITH ME I WILL APPRECIATE IT VERY
MUCH.
I MAY NEED THIS AS FOLLOW AS.

DIRECT TELE/NUMBER....
FAX/NUMBER.......
HOUSE NUMBER........
DRIVER LICENCE.......
OCCUPATION...........

REQUIRED FROM YOU AND REPLY ME AT drkufor@walla.com
THANKS AND HAVE MY BEST REGARDS,
MR KUFOR MENSAH.

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