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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: "richard ofori" <richardofori23@unimail.mn>
Reply-To: oforirichard@rocketmail.com
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:17:50 +0100
Subject: Greetings To You


From: Mr. Richard Ofori.
Standard Chartered Bank of Ghana,
Cape Coast Branch.


My Dear Friend,

My name is Mr. Richard Ofori. I work with the Standard Chartered Bank of
Ghana as the Regional manager, Cape Coast Branch, in the Central Region of
Ghana.I am 44 years old with three lovely kids, two boys and a girl. I have
packaged a transaction that will be of mutual benefit to us.
As the branch manager of Standard Chartered Bank of Ghana, it is my duty to
send a financial report to my head office in the capital city, Accra, at the
end of each financial year.Following the release of the second quarter
financial report, December 2007,I discovered that my branch made Seven
Million, Six Hundred and Twenty Thousand United States Dollars
($7,620,000.00). from the transactions accruing to the account of the Inland
Revenue Service (IRS). This was not detected by the renowned auditors from
my head office.

I have moved the funds into what the bank call Escrow Call Account with no
beneficiary. Meanwhile as you know I can not be directly connected to this
money for obvious reasons. So my contacting you is to assist me receive the
funds in your bank
account in your country, which I know is possible if you liaise properly
with me and get 45% of the total funds as your benefit. The transfer would
be made via swift and it will be a Bank-to-Bank wired transfer.
All I need from you is to stand claim as the original depositor of this
fund. I will computer your particulars as the person who made the deposit in
my branch, so that my head office will immediately order the transfer to
your designated bank Account. E-mail me if you think we can work together.
Thanks for your understanding and co-operation.

Yours truly,

Mr.Richard Ofori.

Branch manager (S C B).

Anti-fraud resources: