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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: "Mr. Stephen Mensah" <stephmensah76@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 27 Aug 2021 04:46:19 -0700
Subject: GOOD DAY MY FRIEND

*Hello Beloved, How are you coping with this Covid-19 Pandemic? I know this
email might come to you as a surprise as we have not met before but I
believe God knows why he has directed me to you at this point in time.My
name is Mr. Stephen Mensah, I`m a Branch Manager of a Financial institute.
I am writing to solicit your assistance in the transfer of US$12,500,000.00
Dollars. This fund is the excess of what my branch in which I am the
manager made as profit last year (i.e. 2020 financial year). I have already
submitted an annual report for this December to my head office in
Accra-Ghana as I have watched with keen interest as they will never know of
this excess of the fund. I have since placed this amount of
US$12,500,000.00 Dollars on an Escrow Coded account without a beneficiary
(Anonymous) to avoid trace.As an officer of the bank, I cannot be directly
connected to this money thus I am impelled to request for your assistance
to receive this money into your bank account on my behalf. I agree that 40%
of this money will be for you as a foreign partner, in respect to the
provision of a foreign account, and 60% would be for me. I do need to
stress that there is practically no risk involved in this.Best RegardsMr.
Stephen MensahPhone +233276274159*

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