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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: "Mr.Ben Simon Taka" <mr.bensimontaka25@biz.by>
Reply-To: mr.bensimontaka1950@yahoo.com
Date: Tue, 8 Jul 2008 07:12:43 +0200
Subject: From Mr.Ben Simon Taka


From Mr.Ben Simon Taka

My Dear,

I am Mr.Ben Simon Taka,the head of Operation and accounts with a bank here
in Cotonou, Benin Republic.I have a confidential business proposition for
you. On September 24th 2001, Mr. Muller Wagner,a National of Germany, who
used to be a private contractor with the Mobile Petroleum Company in Benin
Republic, Made a numbered time (Fixed deposit) for 36 calendar months,
valued at EURO£7,000,000.00 in my branch.

Upon maturity in 2004, I sent a routine notification to his forwarding
address but got no reply. After a month, we sent a reminder and finally we
discovered from his contract employers, Mobile Petroleum Company in Benin
Republic that Mr. Muller Wagner and his wife with their three children
were involved in an auto crash, all occupants of the vehicle unfortunately
lost their lives.I therefore made further investigation and discovered that
Mr. Muller Wagner did not declare any Inheritors or relations in his Bank
Deposit paperwork in my Bank.

This sum of EURO£7,000,000.00 have been floating as unclaimed since 2002 in
my bank as all efforts to get his relatives have hit the stones. According
to the Benin law at the expiration of 5 (FIVE) years, the Money will revert
to the ownership of the Benin Government if nobody applies to claim the
fund.Since I have been unsuccessful in locating the relatives for over 3
years now,I seek your consent to present you as the next of kin and
beneficiary for us to claim and share the proceeds of this late client's
account before our bank turns over to our government treasury is unclaimed
fund.We will discuss the sharing once i received your interesting response.

All I require is your Co-operation, Confidentiality and Trust to enable us
see this transaction through. I guarantee you that this will be executed
under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the
law and all contributions and participation fees relating to the transaction
will be duly reimbursed as soon as the deal is concluded. Please get in
touch with me and provide me with private telephone number,your contact
address and your date of birth.
Your positive response will be highly appreciated.

Best regards
Mr.Ben Simon Taka
Chief Auditor & Head of Accounts
Ecobank Benin(Jericho Branch)
Cotonou-Benin Republic

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