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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: smkdzt56@gmail.com
Reply-To: princewalter_tarawally@yahoo.fr
Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2008 10:37:59 +0000
Subject: From: Mr. Sam Okudzeto


From: Mr. Sam Okudzeto
Director Bills & Exchange
BANK OF GHANA .

Good day,
I am Mr. Sam Okudzeto, the Director Bills & Exchange . I personally
discovered a dormant account with a total sum of $39,000,000.00 (THIRTY NINE
MILLION UNITED STATE DOLLARS) during our Bank's Annual Year Account
Auditing.
The owner of this dormant account died on 5th Jan 2005. Since the death of
the deceased, nobody has operated in this account till date. Moreover, this
account has NO BENEFICIARY attached to it. Definitely, this fund will be
confiscated by our BANKING CODE OF ETHICS if it remains dormant for a period
of (3) years without any claims. In this regard, I earnestly need your full
cooperation in transferring this dormant fund out of our bank to avoid
confiscating this fund. I will split the transfer into two 2 stages for easy
and smooth transfer.
First, I will transfer $9,000,000.00 to any valid foreign account you will
nominate, upon a successful transfer without any disappointment from your
side, I will then fly to meet you in your home destination for sharing, and
thereafter we jointly transfer the remaining balance of $30,000,000.00 for
magnitude investments.
If you are willing to cooperate in this project, I will give you details
immediately as soon as I hear from you. Please note that you are required to
keep very confidential

Yours truly,
Mr. Sam Okudzeto
Director Bills & Exchange
BANK OF GHANA

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