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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: "Mr. Benny Mbali" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <bennymbali01@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 11:50:28 -0500
Subject: BUSINESS PROPOSAL

STERLING BANK HEAD OFFICE,
LONDON.
 
Dear Sir,
 
  I am BENNY MBALI a south African residing in UK and currently working with sterling Bank here in London as administrative secretary in the office of head of operations and International Transfer. On December 1st 2011 while going through the files of our foreign customers we noticed that one of our customer's account has been dormant for over a year and when we tried to contact the customer we were told that he died with the entire family in a plane crash that happened in Libya May 12 2010. He stated his wife as next of kin but unfortunately she died also in the crash along with the husband and 3 children. Here is a link for your view:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/13/world/middleeast/13libya.html?_r=0
Last message received on 02/12 at 08:17
 
ON Friday last week during our meeting it was said that,if nobody comes up as next of kin that the money $4,500,000 USD (Four million five hundred thousand United State dollars) will be confiscated and sent to the national treasury. After the meeting, my boss called me in the office and asked me to look for a reliable person who will stand as next of kin or beneficiary to the late Dutch customer to avoid the money being sent to the national treasury which will be beneficial to the Royal family alone. I am a banker therefore it is impossible for me or my boss to operate a foreign account or account outside our bank hence the need to look for somebody to handle this transaction, somebody who is not friendly or known to the bank at all. I have worked hard here and I have longed for a good retirement for me and my family.
 
I decided to contact you to present you as the NEXT OF KIN or BENEFICIARY to (MR VAN HUSSEN) to enable you receive the money on our behalf. When you receive the money I will come over to your Country for the sharing as follows: 30% for me, 20% for you, and 45% for my Boss. The remaining 5% will be set aside as expenses that will be incurred by both parties during the course of this transaction.
 
Be informed that all documents needed to make this transaction successful are in my possession like 1: affidavit form. 2: death certificate. 3: certificate of deposit. 4: transfer of ownership. All I need from you is to indicate your interest to be the NEXT OF KIN to (MR VAN HUSSEN) and I will present it to the bank. This is 100% legitimate because I will introduce you to an attorney who will help facilitate the transaction. I will stop here until I hear from you. PLEASE KEEP THIS BUSINESS SECURED AND CONFIDENTIAL TO AVOID COMPLICATION which may mar or destroy this transaction.
 
I will await your positive response. Please note that it is not advisable for me to use my official sterling bank email address to receive your mails for obvious confidential reasons, therefore reply me via my private email: bennymbali01@gmail.com. When you reply I will then give you my direct mobile phone number so we can talk.
 
Yours Faithfully,
MR. BENNY MBALI.
 

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