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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: John Koko <demrikas@yahoo.pt>
Date: Thu, 27 Nov 2014 18:49:19 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: RE: TRANSFER OF US$1,200,000.00 ONLY INTEREST INTO YOUR ACCOUNT.


 PAYMENT SYSTEM HARMONIZATION COMMITTEE
(GHANA MONITORING UNIT)
ACCRA-GHANA
OUR REF: PSHC/NMU/BJN/ZZk14
 
Attn: Sir,
 
RE: TRANSFER OF US$1,200,000.00 ONLY INTEREST INTO YOUR ACCOUNT.

I am the Chairman Payment System Harmonization Committee,Accra-Ghana. Sometime ago, your payment was deposited in a local bank by the Bank of Ghana and after some period, they recalled the fund back to their treasury.
 
For the period of time this fund stayed in the local bank, it generated an interest of US$1200,000.00 only which we consider must be paid to you since you are one of the beneficiaries that have not received their payment. As a matter of fact we the management of this Committee have resolved and decided to pay the interest of the fund via Swift Transfer into your account.
 
What we need from you now is any form of identification like your international passport or your driving license, then your telephone for easy communication.Your bank account details where we should transfer the funds. OR you can request for the payment to be made via ATM CARD or Classified bank draft.

In view of this you are hereby instructed to contact this office immediately you receive this message and reconfirm the above stated details.  We are poised to serve you better and on a last note, we want you to keep this correspondence secret because all the officials that are involved in your principal amount doesn't know about the existence of this fund.
 
We are waiting to hear from you.
 
Best regards,

Mr. John Koko
Chairman, Payment System Harmonization Committee.
Accra-Ghana

Anti-fraud resources: