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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: web office <weboffice567@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 8 Jan 2014 17:33:32 +0200
Subject: Happy New Year 2014

>From the Desk of Chief Executive Officer,
South African Harmony Gold Mining Co.Ltd.
Corner of Main Reef Road and Ward Avenue
Randfontein South Africa
Mr. Patrice Motsepe
Email: mr.patricemotsepe@live.com
Tel: +27832401962
Fax: +27866016296

My Dear Good Friend,

Greetings to you in the name of our heavenly God, This mail might come to
you as a surprise and the temptation to ignore it as unserious could come
into your mind; but please, consider it as a divine wish and accept it with
a deep sense of humility. My name is Mr. Patrice Motsepe; I am the Chief
Executive Officer South African Harmony Gold Mining Co. Ltd. The crux of
this letter is that the Finance/Contract Department of the South African
Harmony Gold Mining Co. Ltd (SAHGMC) deliberately over-inflated the
contract values of various contract awarded. I came to know of you in my
search for a reliable and reputable person to handle a very confidential
transaction, which involves the transfer of a huge sum of money to a
foreign account.

In the course of disbursement my office was able to track down the sum of
US$35M (Thirty Five Million U.S Dollars) as the over invoiced. This money
is now floating in the (SAHGMC) domiciliary account with the Reserve Bank
of South Africa (RBSA).I now want to quickly transfer this fund to a safe
nominated foreign account for possible investment abroad before the end of
my tenure. I am not allowed as a matter of government policy to operate any
foreign account because of my status as civil/public servants. Hence the
needs to solicit for your full banking details, to enable me transfer this
money into your account. I am rest assured we shall do it together. This is
a risk free transaction. I will procure the Necessary documents in your
favor. What this means is that Some relevant documents is going to be
procured in your name which will make it easy for the money to transferred
to you as the right Beneficiary.

For assisting me in transferring and safeguarding this fund, you will be
entitled to 40% of the total sum,=US$14,000,000 and 60% = US$21,000,000 is
for me. You can open a new bank account where this fund will be transferred
without further waste of time. According to South Africa law, at the
expiration of my tenure the money will revert to the ownership of the South
Africa Government if nobody applies to claim the fund. Please, you should
not see this as dishonest rather it will not be better for Corrupt
Government officials in South Africa, who are bent on their own selfish
interest, to utilize this advantage. However, I want you to be human and
humane because I sincerely hope that this is the beginning of a fruitful
relationship between you and me.

If you are interested, upon your response, Send to me the Following (1)
Your full Name, Age and contact address. (2) Your private phone and fax, is
also urgently needed for prompt discussions. Please Reply To My Private
Email: mr.patricemotsepe@live.com

My kindest regards,

Mr. Patrice Motsepe
Chief Executive Officer
South African Harmony Gold Mining Co. Ltd.

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