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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

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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.

Read more about such scams here or in our 419 FAQ. Use the Scam-O-Matic to verify suspect emails.

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Fraud email example:

From: "Engr. William Annan." <williwmannan@uymail.com> (may be fake)
Reply-To: wllmannan@yahoo.co.in
Date: Sun, 10 Apr 2005 21:51:19 +0400
Subject: GREETINGS FROM GHANA

Greetings from Engr. William,

This letter must come to you as a big surprise, but I believe it is only a day that people meet and become great friends and business partners. I write you this proposal in good faith, believing that I can trust you with the information I am about to reveal to you and as a result of the urgency of this operation I have decided to contact you by EMAIL to hear from you first before planning on the next line of action.

I am Engr. William Annan, one of the top Directors of Procurement and Contract Award with, Ghana National Petroleum Corporation [GNPC]. I am contacting you concerning the transfer of US$33 Million Dollars (THIRTY THREE MILLION DOLLARS) Sometime ago, a contract was awarded by my
Corporation, [GNPC] to an American contractor Late Mr. Morris Thompson an American great industrialist and big time Oil dealer, to supply equipment's to the Ghana Refineries and 8 years turn around maintenance at the Refineries. I over invoiced this contract to the tune of US$33 Million. I reached a compromise with the late Mr. Morris Thompson to transfer the fund into a separate foreign bank account for us, but unfortunately he died in the plane crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261 which crashed on January 31 2000, including his wife and only daughter. You will read news about the plane crash on these sites, http://www.cnn.com/2000/US/02/01/alaska.airlines.list/ and
http://www.nativefederation.org/history/people/mThompson.html

Now that the complete contract sum has been approved for payment, I need a trustworthy foreigner who I shall present as a contractor to the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation and the over-invoiced contract sum will be paid to him. I require the assistance of a foreign company in order for me to move the funds out of the country. I will handle the process of approving the Contract sum and I guarantee that this transaction will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law.

I want you to state how you wish us to share the funds after the transaction. Since each party is playing a vital role, as I cannot claim the sum without your help, every party must be satisfied. Contact me immediately if you are interested for further details and state the percentage you wish to have. I look forward to a fruitful business relationship with you and your urgent response is required.

Best Regards,

Engr. William Annan.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam