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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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: Ahmid Zaheed <azaheed@rediffmail.com>
Reply-To: accentagency@fsmail.net
Date: Sat, 17 Feb 2007 22:59:25 +0000
Subject: Seeking investment assistance


Good day,
This is Ahmid Zaheed the first son of a late Habib Zaheed, a fish merchant and a millionaire Mogul of Saudi Arabia who died of Esophageal cancer three years ago. I am contacting you because of my present need to engage in a mutually beneficial business partnership with person whom I have not had dealings with before and who has the great passion to assist people who are in need. It is imperative that I inform you that this is not one of those numerous scam emails you might have received in the past where you are being required by some conmen to sign out a blank cheque or give out your personal information or bank account in order to perpetrate their illicit scam scheme,please note that this transaction is very legitimate and all we need is your partnership.

I am therefore contacting you to assist me in channeling the sum of $5 Million U.S Dollars belonging to my late father into a productive investment ventures in your country. The money was reserved by my late father for the acquisition of New Marchineries and coldroom equipments meant for expanding his fishing business in Saudi Arabia. This funds was arranged in two trunk boxes by my late father and was deposited with a security company in the Netherlands but the content of the trunk boxes was declared to the security company as African art meant for export to his foreign partner for security reason.

Three years after the death of my father, the security company in the Netherlands where the funds was deposited addressed a letter to us that the term agreed on with my late father concerning the deposited trunk boxes containing the said $5 million dollars has expired and the consignment must be immediately cleared out of their company but also requires the presence of the foreign partner to my late father on whose behalf the consignment was deposited.


As a 20 years old boy,in view of this, I am contacting you to present you as the foreign partner to my late father on whose behalf the consignment was deposited so that you can assist us retrieve the $5 million dollars from the security company and then apply the funds on a lucrative investment of your choice in your country.
I shall be expecting your response in order to furnish you with details of the funds. All replies in response of this mail shall be directed to my private email address: azaheed1@inbox.com. Thank you. May this mail receive its earliest attention

Yours faithfully
Ahmid Zaheed

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