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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.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "Oscar John" <adsolo12@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: williendu2004@yahoo.co.in
Date: Tue, 04 Oct 2005 13:31:28 +0000
Subject: Business Transaction

Dear Sir,

REQUEST FOR MUTUAL BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP

First, I must solicit your confidence in this transaction. I am a highly
placed official working in the Ministry of Agriculture, here in Banjul,
Gambia, West Africa. My department (the treasury) coordinates several
thousands of millions of dollars transactions monthly.

I and three other colleagues from this department are currently in need of a
silent, foreign partner whose bank account we can use to transfer the sum of
Eighteen Million, Five Hundred Thousand U.S. Dollars
(US$18,500,000.00). These funds accrued legitimately (but discreetly) to us
as commission from a contract job awarded and executed in here in the
Gambia.

The money is presently waiting to be remitted by our offshore funds managers
to any named beneficiary submitted by us to them as the owner of the
payment. However, by virtue of our positions as civil servants in our
country, we cannot acquire this money in our names. As senior officers, we
are not allowed by the civil service code of conduct, to own or operate bank
accounts outside of our shores. On the other hand, it is not safe for us to
keep the money here due to our unstable political environment.
I have been delegated as a matter of trust by my colleagues, to look for an
overseas silent partner, in whose account we would transfer the
US$18,500,000.00 for mutual benefit, hence the reason for this e-mail.

What I am requesting from you is: (1) to be our silent partner and receive
the money in your account in trust. (2) Provide a receiving bank account
under your control, to which the funds will be remitted. (3) Receive the
funds in your account, take your commission and keep the rest until I arrive
there to meet you after the transaction is completed.

Our proposal is that after you receive the funds, it would be shared as
follows: (1) 25% to you as commission, while the remaining 75% belong to us.
You will be free to take out your commission immediately the money hit your
account. Since our objective is to invest the money in a foreign country, it
would be ideal to let you manage this for us in your country. However this
is optional, and should it not be convenient for you, we can terminate our
cooperation after you hand over our share of the money.

This transaction though discreet, is legitimate and the money will be
transferred to your account with all necessary backup documents showing
legitimate source/origin. The transfer will be effected to your account
within seven working days of your furnishing us with a suitable receiving
bank account information and our reaching an agreement.

I plead with you on one issue; whether or not you are interested, please do
not expose this information to a third party. I confirm that the transaction
is legitimate and without any risks either of us. Please give me your
response immediately by return mail, while keeping everything confidential.

Yours faithfully,

Willie Edward


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