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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: "ZENITH BANK" <info_zenithbankplc@24.com>
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:01:19 +0200
Subject: Attention Beneficiary


&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
<div id=AOLMsgPart_2_8bf3e218-f2e9-46dd-a6e8-ac0715e1deb4><strong>
<table cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a><img height=39 alt="Zenith Bank" src="http://www.zenithbank.com/images/logo_animatex.gif" width=50></a></td>
<td><a><img height=24 alt="Zenith Bank" src="http://www.zenithbank.com/images/logo_trim.gif" width=194></a></td></tr></tbody></table>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div><strong>39 Cornhill, <br>London <br>EC3V 3ND<br>United Kingdom<br>&nbsp;</strong></div>
<div><strong></strong><br>&nbsp;</div>
<div></div>
<div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><font style="FONT-SIZE: 24pt" color=#000000 size=6><font color=#ff0000><font color=#000000 size=3>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</font><strong><font size=7>ZENITH&nbsp; BANK&nbsp; PLC</font></strong></font></font></span><br><br>Attention Beneficiary,<br><br>We want to inform you that a bank draft containing $200,000USD was deposited&nbsp;for long now&nbsp;by the CEO of Alert Security Mr. Kenneth Colvin to be transfered into cash card(ATM CARD). We have been given $700 by him as part of the $1000 transfer fee. But we cannot do the transfer without the full fee paid. It is now remaining $300 to complete the fee for us to carry out the&nbsp;transaction&nbsp;for you to receive the card and start making withdrawal with it at any cash machine around the world. An account will be set up on your behalf from where you would be making the withdrawal. If you don't like the fund transfered into ATM card,it can as well be wired into your bank account but this is quite expensive because you will have to pay tax for this. The fee is $1,500. We have to follow the banking&nbsp;procedures most expecially when it concerns foreign transactions. For this reason, you have to try and send the&nbsp;$300 to Mr. Kenneth Colvin so that the fee can be paid for us to transfer the fund immediately into the ATM cash card.<br><br>Regards,<br><br><strong>Christopher Benson<br>Director Foreign Remittance</strong></div></strong></div><br><hr size=1><img src='http://mail.24.com/images/news24_56x56.png' alt='24logo'/>Get News24 on your mobile phone! Visit <a href="http://mobile.24.com/?p=minisite_news" target="_blank" style="font-weight : bold;">mobile.24.com</a>.

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