Email Scams: Government officials with dead rich clients
Pity these poor hard working government officials, with millions of dollars in a secret account, after the death of President Mugumbo of Ghana... or whatever. Of course, they are scams!
Below are links to sample actual emails of this type of scam, along with how to recognize the scam and report them. These are of a type called "The Advance Fee Fraud (AFF)" email is also known as "419" after the section of the Nigerian penal law that deals with this type of fraud. It takes many forms, we have categorized the scams below as "Orphans and Widows of wealthy diplomats, generals, presidents, etc."
How to recognize a fake government official, banker, etc. with a scam
Let's look at some actual emails people received and see how we can spot that they are scams. In general, notice the awesome amount of misspellings, poor grammar and run-on sentences. Even if they weren't scams, would you go into business with someone who writes like that?
- Presidential Review Panel, Tanko Mohammed, phillip walter
- Nigeria, Mr.Chizoba Chinweike, FOREIGN DEBT PAYMENT OFFICE
- NUHU RIBADU at OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENCY ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL CRIMES COMMISSION (EFCC Chairman)
- Smith Mbani, South Africa Department of Minerals and Energy
- GREGORY NTOSI, Chief Accounting Officer, Department of Energy and Mineral resources, Republic of South Africa
- Sacca Lafia, Minister of Mines, Energy, & Water, Republique du Benin
- Prof. Charles C. Soludo, The Executive Director (Governor) Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN)
- Prof. Charles C. Soludo, The Executive Director (Governor) Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN).,
"AMADI UCHE" - Nigeria Anti-Fraud Investigation Unit, Mary Donald
- Dr. Kwame Agemang - Dormant Money from a Deceased Customer
- Ben Hulk scam - The death of David Hagen in a car accident! The entire sequence of emails is included; you find this one entertaining, as well as informative! There are several fake documents to see, too.
- ELI KAUFMANN, Independent Committee of Eminent Persons (ICEP)
- David Palmer of Smith and Williamson
- David Palmer scam, version 2
- MR.CHONG SU FATT - Death of the Macedonian president.
- Seng Wan, Singapore
And please let us know about any suspicious calls or emails you receive. We look for patterns so that we can alert the authorities and victims to new scams, before it is too late!
For a comprehensive list of national and international agencies to report scams, see this page.