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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: "umoru jackson" <jack79umoru@msn.com>
Reply-To: jackson715umoru@uk2.net
Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2005 13:44:21 +0000
Subject: PLEASE RESPOND!!

FROM: Dr. Jackson Umoru
7 Kofo Abayomi Street,
Victoria Island,
Lagos.


Greeting To You,
I would like to firstly send to you the best wishes of good health and success in your pursuits particularly through my proposal as contained  in this letter.

Before going into details of my proposal to you, I must first implore you to treat with the utmost confidentiality as this is required for its success and to have faith in this transaction, for opportunities like this only comes to one once in a life time.

My colleagues and I are senior officials of the Federal Government of my country's Contracts Review Panel (CRP) who are interested in diverting some funds that are presently floating in the accounts of the Apex Bank of my country. In order to commence this transaction, we solicit for your assistance to enable us transfer into your nominated account the said floating funds.

The source of the funds are as follows: During the last military regim in my country, government officials set up companies and awarded themselves contracts that were grossly over-invoiced in various ministries and parastatals. The present civilian government set up the Contract Review Panel ( as part of it's anti-corruption policy ), which has the mandate to use the instruments of payments made available to it by the decree setting up the panel, to review these contracts and if necessary pay those who are being owed outstanding amounts.

My colleagues and I have identified quite a huge sum of these funds, which are presently floating in our (Apex) Central Bank, ready for disbursement and would like to divert some of it for our own purposes. However, by virtue of our positions as civil servants and members of this panel, we cannot acquire these funds in our names or in the names of companies that are based in my country. I have therefore been mandated, as a matter of trust by my colleagues in the panel, to look for a reliable overseas partner into whose account we can transfer the sum of U.S.$20,500,000.00 (Twenty million, five hundred thousand U.S. dollars). That is why I am seeking your assistance. We have agreed to share the money to be transferred into your account,

if you agree with our proposition as follows;

(i) 25% to the account owner (you).
(ii) 65% for us (the panel officials).
(iii) 10% to be used in settling all expenses (by both you and us) incidental to the actualization of this project.

We wish to invest our share of the proceeds of this project in foreign stock markets and other viable business till we are ready and able to have access to them without raising any eyebrows here at home.

Please note that this transaction is 100% safe and risk-free.
We intend to effect the transfer within ten (10) banking days from the date of receipt of the following information through the fax number stated above: Your company's name, address, telephone and fax numbers; we will use your company's name to apply for the payment and backdate the award of the contract in favour of your company. We are looking forward to doing this transaction with you and we solicit for your utmost confidentiality in this transaction.

I will bring you into a more detailed picture of this transaction when  I hear from you. Please get in touch through my email address above:

Best regards,
Dr. Jackson Umoru.

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