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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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Fraud email example:

From: "Mr Jthabiso" <jthabiso112@msn.com>
Reply-To: jthabiso01@webmail.co.za
Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2005 02:18:44 +0000
Subject: DEAR FRIEND.

From:Mr.Joseph Thabiso
E-mail Address:jthabiso01@webmail.co.za
Dear Sir/Madam,
STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL AND URGENT!
The South Africa economy has witnessed a steady growth
since the end of
Apartheid. Within the Ministry of Energy & Mineral
Resources where I
worked as director of Auditing and Project
Implementation, Mining and Quarrying
alone contributes 12.3% GDP (R25.9Billion), Gold made
up R19.9Billion of
the yearly export while Base metals and other mineral
products contribute
R6.7Billion and R5.0Billion respectively. This figures
excludes Diamond,
which is quoted separately.
The Government have continuously strived to improve
and maintain good
relationship with foreign governments and
Non-Governmental financial
agencies by ensuring payments for all debts owed to
foreign contractors.
As a matter of fact, the Government have sponsored
several trade delegation
overseas to improve and attract foreign investments to
South Africa.
I write to solicit your partnership in a matter I
believe will be of
mutual benefit to us. This would require your trust
and capability to work with
me with your genuine cooperation according to
instructions. I and two other
colleagues involved in this transaction are still in
active government
service with the Ministry of Mines & Mineral Resources
and we are in dire
need of a foreign partner to assist us in the receipt
and investment of
US$28,500,000.00 (Twenty-Eight Million Five Hundred
Thousand United States
Dollars).
The key issue is the transfer of the said sum to an
account that will be
provided by you for this purpose for safekeeping and
subsequent investment
in a profitable venture. We are ready to go into an
agreement with you
regarding your percentage in this transaction.
It does not matter whether or not you own a company,
we shall guide you on
what to do. The basis will be that a major company won
a contract and
subcontracted it to you. More often, big trading
companies and firms of
unrelated fields win contracts and subcontract to more
specialized firms
for execution.
We shall follow strictly all the legal procedures
entailed in our laws and
international laws in transferring the funds to you.
The source of the
fund is legitimate and authoritative; our caucus
extends from my Ministry
(Energy & Mineral Resources) to the Ministry of
Finance.
It is pertinent to know that under the South African
Government Service
Code of Conduct, Civil servants are not allowed to
operate or own a bank
account overseas, hence your importance as a foreign
partner.
I have reposed my confidence in you and hope you will
not disappoint me.
Should you be willing to assist positively with a
common goal, endeavour
to contact me immediately through my confidential
email address above.
I await in anticipation your fullest co-operation
Best regards,
Mr.Joseph Thabiso


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