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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: =?iso-8859-1?Q?davidosei25=40handbag=2Ecom=20=20=09?= <davidosei25@handbag.com>
Reply-To: david_os55@yahoo.com
Date: Wed, 24 Aug 2005 21:54:06 +0100
Subject: Private Transaction

FROM: MR.DAVID OSEI.
INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL BANK.
ACCRA GHANA.

Dear Sir,

Let me start first by introducing myself. I am MR.DAVID OSEI a bank manager
with the INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL BANK here in Accra,Ghana. I came to know
about you in my private search for a reliable person/company to handle a
confidential Portfolio that is under my management.

The Portfolio:

A German MR. WOLFGANG SCHINITER, 66 years of age and a prosperous GOLD MINNER
had in our Firm a sum of Twenty Nine million United States Dollars(U.S.$29million).He
named his wife MRS. HELGA SCHINITER as the next of kin. Unfortunately they
were both killed in the recent air crash involving Concord AF4590 inGonesse,FRANCE.Efforts
had been made by the management of my Firm through the German embassy in
GHANA to contact any of the children of Mr. Wolfgang Schiniter but to no
avail. According to the embassy, the couple had no offspring. The Firm is
still unrelenting in its bit to contact any of the relatives to claim this
money or the fund will go to the government.

In order to avoid this development.I now seek your permission to have you
stand as a distant relative to Mr. Wolfgang Schiniter so that the funds would
be released to you. All the documents and proofs that will enable you get
these funds will be carefully worked out.

The Firm has secured from the court an order of mandamus to locate any of
the deceased relatives, and I am assuring you that this is 100% risk free.If
this proposal is acceptable to you please do contact me on the above mail.I
am offering you a 20% commission. Give me your consent and I will go ahead
with the paperwork.

Thanks for your co-operations,

Yours,

Mr David Osei

__________________________________________________________________
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