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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: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: <mr_benson_kwamebk05@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2008 22:19:58 +0000
Subject: IMPORTANT BUSINESS TRANSACTION FOR YOU PLEASE READ AND REPLY




>From The Desk Of,
Mr Benson kwame.

Dear Friend,

My
name is Mr Benson kwame . I am the Regional Manager of International commercial
Bank of Ghana,[I.C.B] Accra branch Ghana. I write you this proposal in good
faith;
I am married with two lovely children. I am a man of peace, and
have sincere respect for human feelings and opinions. I have packaged a
financial transaction that will benefit you and I. As the Regional Manager of
International commercial Bank of Ghana,[I.C.B], Accra branch Ghana it is my
duty to send in a financial report to my head office in the capital city, Accra
at the end of each business year.

On the course of last year, 2007
business report, I discovered that the
branch in which I am the Manager made
3.5million United States Dollars ($3,500,000.00) which my head office is not
aware of and will never be aware of. I have placed this funds on what we call
Escrow call account with no beneficiary. As an officer of this bank I cannot be
directly connected to this money, so my aim of contacting you is to assist me
receive this money in your bank account and get 30% of the total funds as
commission.

There are practically no risks involved, the transaction
will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any
breach of the law, it will be simply a bank-to bank transfer, and all I need
from you is to stand claim as the original depositor of these funds who made
the deposit with my branch so that my head office can order the transfer to
your designated bank account under few working days. If you accept to work with
me I will appreciate it very much as you are the first and the only person I
am contacting for this transaction.

Send me an email as soon as you
receive this message if you think that we can go over the
details.

Thank you in advance and God bless you and your family. all
reply should be sent to mr_benson_kwamebk05@hotmail.com
for security reson.

Sincerely,
Mr Benson kwame

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