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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. STEPHEN MENSAH" <stephmensah01@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2022 02:14:03 -0700
Subject: MY REGARDS TO YOU

Dear Friend,

My name is Mr. Stephen Mensah, I am a banker and a regional manager of
a bank here in Ghana. I need your help to transfer a sum of
US$12,500,000.00 into your account as my foreign partner. The fund is
part of the profits made by our bank over the past 4 years in the
branch where I am the manager. I have already submitted an annual
report for last year to my bank headquarters in Accra - Ghana, and
they did not notice the excess profits. I deposited this said
US$12,500,000.00 in an escrow account without a beneficiary
(Anonymous), to avoid any trace.

I cannot be directly connected to this fund because I'm still working
with the bank. So, I need your help to transfer these funds into your
account in your country for you and I to share. I offer you 50% of
this funds as my foreign partner and 50% will be for me. There is no
risk because it will be a bank to bank transfer. So, I want you to
stand as the owner of this fund so that you can present a foreign bank
account where the funds can be transferred to you as my foreign
partner.

If you accept this proposal, I am prepared to go into partnership with
you. Please kindly reply to me for more information on how to proceed.

Sincerely,
Mr. Stephen Mensah,
The Regional Manager,
Tema Branch, Accra

Anti-fraud resources: