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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: Miss Helen <ziogj@yahoo.co.jp>
Reply-To: Miss Helen <hakah212@yahoo.fr>
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 2015 21:23:08 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Helen Akah


Hello,

Please Assist Me With Good Faith. It is my pleasure to write you after much consideration, since I cannot be able to see you face to face at first. Being the only daugther of my late father, late Cheif. Kones Akah, from Africa (WA) I am 19 years of age. 

My father was limited liability Café Cacao merchant in Abidjan Cote D Ivoire. before his untimely death. After his business trip to Switzerland to nagociate on a good investment business he wanted to invest in geneva. A week after he came back from geneva, he got an accident with my mother of which my mother died instantly but my father died after five days in a private hospital on that faithful afternoon, I didn't know that my father was going to leave me after I had lost my mother, but before he gave up the ghost, it was as if he knew he was going to die. He my father, (MAY HIS SOUL REST IN PERFECT PEACE) he disclosed to me that he deposited sum of $5,000,000,00 US Dollars (Five Million u.s Dollars) in a Bank here in abidjan That the money was meant for his chocolate company he wanted to establish in geneva though, according to my father he deposited the money in a Bank but declared it as investment and business partner in abroad. 

He single handed me the deposit certificate and instructed me to seek for a reliable and trust worthy business partner for my life time investment abroad. Now I have succeeded in locating the Bank here in abidjan also confirmed the deposit with most honest and confidentiality. Now I am soliciting for your assistance to help me lift this money out from abidjan to your safe account abroad so that we should invest it in any meaningful lucrative business in your country because this is my only hope in life. I am willing to offer you 10% of the total fund if only you can help me out of my present predicament. Awaiting anxiously to hear from you so that we can discuss the modalities of this transaction. I await your immediate response. 
Yours sincerely 
Helen Akah

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