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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: Desmond Makando <desmakooo@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 26 Nov 2013 02:41:05 +0100
Subject: ATTN Scheer

Dear Scheer

I hope this will find you well.

This e-mail may come as a shock but I apologize and I hope that after you
have gone through it, you will understand and be relieved of any fears.

I decided to contact you out of desperation due to the situation at hand. I
am Mr. Desmond Makando, a personal banker/financial adviser to late Mr. B.
D. Scheer, a national of your country, who used to work as a contractor
here in South Africa referred to as my client.

My client and his entire family passed away over five years ago in a
horrible boating accident. And ever since then I have made several
inquiries from here to locate any extended relatives of my late client,
which has proved unsuccessful for me, after these several unsuccessful
attempts, I decided to search through with his last name which motivated me
to contact you, because both of you is sharing the same last name, hence I
decided contacted you.

I have contacted you to assist me in repatriating his estate valued
US$16.7Million left behind before it gets confiscated or declared
unserviceable by the bank. The Bank has issued me (as his personal
banker/financial adviser) a notice to provide a next of kin or have his
account confiscated. Since I have been unsuccessful in locating any of his
relative for over the years now, I seek your consent to present you as next
of kin to the deceased, since you share the same last names, so that the
proceeds of this account can be paid to you.

Therefore, on receipt of your positive response, we shall then discuss the
modalities for transfer. as I have all necessary information and legal
documents needed to back up the claim, all that I require from you is your
honest cooperation to enable us see this transaction through, I guarantee
that this will be executed under legitimate and legal arrangement that will
protect you from any breach of the law.

Thank you for your kind understanding and co-operation. I look forward to
hearing from you soon.

Regards,
Mr. Desmond Makando.

Anti-fraud resources: