419 scam: "Dr. Andre Ayew" <fizain@gmail.com> REQUEST

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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:

This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "30% for you " (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "% commission" (Beware of any scheme that involves depositing checks or money orders or receiving wire transfers in your bank account and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere, for a percentage of 5-15% of the total. Such offers are *always* fraudulent and you will be liable for the entire amount when the checks, money orders or wire transfers turn out to be fraudulent. Any money already forwarded comes out of *your* pocket then. )
- "contract award committee" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: "Dr. Andre Ayew" <fizain@gmail.com>
Reply-To: andre_ayew83@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2012 07:02:48 -0800
Subject: REQUEST

Dear friend,

I am Dr.Andre Ayew, Regional Director of International Commercial Bank of
Ghana. I write you this proposal in good faith. I have a
financial/transaction packaged in place pending for transfer
(US$27.5MILLION), as the regional Director of the International Commercial
Bank Ghana; it is my duty to give a financial report of entire branches of
the region to my head office in the capital city Accra at the end of each
business year This amount stated was over-inflation of contracts and
services carried out by foreign firms with the Ghana Ministry of
Energy/Ghana Electric Power Authority as consideration of 10% commission
agreement on the total contract value. The original Contractors have been
paid through my bank and as a nominated Chairman Contract Award Committee
and Regional Director of my bank; I have since then, placed this amount on
a Non-Investment Account without a beneficiary.

Upon your response, I will place your name on our database a holder of the
Non-Investment Account. I will then guide you on how to contact my head
office for the Account Closure/ bank-to-bank remittance of the funds to
your designated bank account.

Note: As a Regional director of this bank I cannot be directly connected to
this fund considering my position in this bank, so my aim of contacting you
is to assist me receive this fund in your bank account as sole beneficiary
of the said fund. 65% of the total sum is for me and 30% for you while 5%
will stand for any expenses that occur during the transfer.

In this transaction i guarantee you 100% risk free , it will be a
bank-to-bank transfer, and all I need from you is to stand and claim as the
original depositor of these funds as i said who made the deposit with my
branch so that my head office can order the transfer to your designated
bank account.

Upon your reply of this mail and your indication of interest in the
transaction, I shall oblige you further details.

Awaiting your prompt response

Best regards,
Dr.Andre Ayew

This transmission may contain information that is privileged, confidential
and/or exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the
intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying,
distribution, or use of the information contained herein (including any
reliance thereon) is STRICTLY PROHIBITED. If you received this transmission
in error, please immediately contact the sender.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam