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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: "R.Cohen" <geloted@aim.com>
Reply-To: cohennrich@aol.co.uk
Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2006 16:17:24 +0100
Subject: PRIVATE&URGENT

PRIVATE AND URGENT

I am contacting you in regards to a business transfer
of a huge sum
of money from a deceased customer's account who On the
25th of July
2000,the deceased, German property magnate Andreas
Schranner, 64, his
wife Maria, 62, their daughter Andrea Eich, 38, her
husband
Christian, 57, and their children Katharina, eight,
and Maximilian,
10, all perished in the
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/859479.stm

Although I know that a transaction of this magnitude
might make anyone
apprehensive,I would like to assure you that I am
sending you this
mail with the best of intensions.

YOU AS THE BENEFICIARY;

Since then I have been trying to get this funds out of
the bank, the
sum of US$12,000,000.00 (Twelve Million United States
Dollars) in an
account that belongs to our foreign customers who died
along with his
entire family in the above accident stated above.Since
his death,
none of his next-of-kin or relations has come forward
to lay claims
to this money as the heir.The Funds cannot be release
from his
account unless someone applies for claim as the
next-of-kin to the
deceased as indicated in our banking guidelines. Upon
this discovery,
I now seek your permission to have you stand as a next
of kin to the
deceased as all documentations will be carefully
worked out by me for
the funds (US$12,000,000.00) to be released in your
favour as the
beneficiary's next of kin.

It may interest you to know that I have secured from
the probate
court,an order of madamus to locate any of the
deceased
beneficiaries.Please acknowledge receipt of this
message in
acceptance of our mutual business endeavour by
furnishing me with the
following;

1. Your Full Names and Address.
2. Direct Telephone and Fax numbers.

These requirements will enable me file a letter of
claim to the
appropriate departments for necessary approvals in
your favour before
the transfer can be made. I shall be compensating you
with 1.5
Million Dollars on final conclusion of this project,
while the rest
shall be for me.Thereafter I will visit you in your
country for
disbursement as I am almost due for retirement.

Your share stays with you while the rest shall be for
me for
investment purposes in your country.If this proposal
is acceptable by
you, do not take undue advantage of the trust I have
bestowed in
you,I await your urgent response to this email.

Regards,

Mr Richard Cohen


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