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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: Thomas Ofori <thomasofori_2002@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2008 12:00:52 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: VERY URGENT BUSINESS PROPOSAL




Dear Sir,=20
=A0
I got your contact during my search on the Internet. My name is Thomas Ofor=
i, a manager of=A0=A0 a branch of the International Commercial Bank LTD her=
e in Ghana.=A0 I am a Ghanaian married with two kids.
=A0
I have packaged a financial transaction that will benefit both of us. As th=
e manager of the bank, it my duty to send financial reports to my head offi=
ce also in the capital city of Accra. On the course of the last year 2007 e=
nd of the of the year report, I discovered that my branch (Kaneshi, First L=
ight Branch) in which I am the manager made=A0Three Million=A0five Hundred =
Thousand US Dollars (3,500.000.00) of which my head office is not aware of =
and will never be aware of it. I have since then PLACED this fund on a SUSP=
ENCE ACCOUNT without a beneficiary.
As an officer of the bank, I cannot be directly connected to this money thu=
s I am impelled to request for your assistance to receive this money into y=
our bank account. I intend to part 30% of this fund to you while 70% shall =
be for me. I do need to assure you that there are practically no risks invo=
lved in this.=A0 It going to be a bank-to-bank transfer. All I need from yo=
u is to stand as the original depositor of this fund.
=A0
If you accept this offer, I will appreciate your timely response.
=A0
Please reply to thomasofori@fastermail.com
=A0
With regards,
=A0
Thomas Ofori.=0A=0A=0A

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