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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: "Mark Dube" <markk3@w7r9hmn9p.homepage.t-online.de>
Reply-To: <markdubesa@fastwebmail.it>
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:16:17 -0000
Subject: This sum of (US$ 7,450,000.00) is still sitting in the Bank

From Mr. Mark Dube
Treasury Department
Ned bank, South Africa.
 
 
Dear Sir,
 
 
I am Mr. Mark Dube Principal treasury officer with Ned bank South Africa. I have decided to contact you through this medium based on a business proposal, which will be of mutual benefit to both of us. Please this letter contains some confidential materials and should be deleted from your mail box indicating that you are not interested concerning the proposal.                
 
 
Mr. Ziya Bazhayev made a numbered time (Fixed) deposited for twelve calendar months, valued at US$ 7,450,000.00 (Seven Million Four Hundred and Fifty Thousand United States Dollars) in my branch. Upon maturity, 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, National Mining Corporation that Mr. Bazhayev died from a plane Crash. You may follow the Link below to read about the plane Crash which cost Mr.  Bazhayev his life: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/europe/672849.stm .On further investigation, I found out that he did not leave a WILL and all attempts to trace his next of kin were fruitless. I therefore made further investigation and discovered that Mr. Bazhayev did not declare any next of kin in all his official documents, including his Bank Deposit paperwork.
 
This sum of (US$ 7,450,000.00) is still sitting in the Bank and the interest is being rolled over with the principal sum at the end of each year. No one will come forward to claim it.  According to the South African Law, at the expiration of 9{Six} years, the money will revert to the ownership of the South African Government if nobody applies to claim the funds. Consequently, my proposal is that I will like you as a foreigner to stand in as the next of kin to Mr. Ziya Bazhayev so that this money will not be reverted by the government.
 
If this request matches with your inward intention for success and greatness, then you are urged to make a quick response indicating your interest and readiness to participate and work with me to make this successful. You can contact me through my e-mail address. Please observe utmost confidentiality, and rest assured that this transaction would be most profitable for both of us because I shall require your assistance to invest my share in your country.
 
 
Awaiting your urgent reply
 
 
 
Thanks and regards,
 
 
Mark Dube
 

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