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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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: john benson <john-b-12@hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 14 May 2007 12:32:29 +0000
Subject: From Mr.John Benson.



Hello, I plead for your tolerance, of not having the pleasure of knowing your mindset before sending you this letter. I’m Mr.John Benson. the operational head of Agricultural Development Loan Scheme of the Agricultural Development Bank, Accra, Ghana. The aforementioned scheme sees to the proper distribution of grants to our local farmers for better agricultural development in the country. Early last year our government (Ghana) awarded a substantial amount of money to mechanize our local farm, which the scheme i head in my organization operates. And i was able to divert the excess amount of $6.650M to an Escrow Call Account in our Bank without any beneficiary. In a nutshell, i would need you to be the beneficiary of the stated account and stand claim of the money, and then transfer the money into any of your account outside Africa. Please note importantly, that this is a very discreet project that must be kept confidential. And i would not be known to be part of the transfer, because i still head the scheme and i’m about to oversee another loan granting operation for the principal beneficiaries in the coming month. So please email me immediately you receive this letter; but only when you are very interested. Yours Truly,Mr.John Benson.
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