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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: "nelson zuma" <nelsonzuma01@hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 20 Oct 2005 18:55:30 +0200
Subject: HELP A FAMILY IN NEED

Mr.Nelson Zuma
11TH FLOOR, JOHNSON
ST JOHANNESBURG,
TEL:27-73-18-31-661
FAX:27-11-507-65-16
EMAIL:nelsonzuma01@hotmail.com


Dear Friend,


PROPOSAL FOR URGENT FAMILY ASSISTANCE.

Goodday to you overthere and may the special grace dwell in your home Amen.

My Name is Mr. Nelson Zuma,the elder son of Mr.Sondoko Zuma, of Zimbabwe.
This might be a surprise to you about where i got your contact address. I
got your contact address from the South African information centre. During
the current war against the farmers in Zimbabwe from the supports of our
President Robert Mugabe to claim all the white-owned farms to his party
members and his followers, he ordered all white farmers to surrender all
farms to his party members and his followers.

My father is One of the best farmers in our country and because he did not
support Mugabes ideas,Mugabes supports invaded my fathers farm and burnt
everything in the farm,killing my father and made away with a lot of items
in my fathers farm.

Before his death,my father had deposited a huge amount of money in a
Security Company in Johannesburg,South Africa the sum of US$7,5
MILLION(SEVEN MILLION FIVE HUNDERD THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS).After
the death of my father, we decided to move to the Republic of South Africa
where he had deposited the money in the Security Company as valuables.

this amount was meant for the purchase of new machines and chemicals for
farms and establishment of new farms in Swaziland.

So we decided to contact overseas firm and companies that will assist us to
move this money out of South Africa because as asylum seekers we are not
allowed to operate any Bank Account within South Africa.We have agreed to
offer you 20% of the total sum for your assistance,5% will be mapped out for
any expenses that may be incurred in the course of this transaction while
75% will be for me and my family to invest in your country.

Should you be interested please send us your private phone and fax
numbers for easy communication, you can write us via our email address
nelsonzuma01@hotmail.com and we will provide you with more details of this
operation.Your earliest response to this letter will be appreciated.

Thanks and God bless.

Best Regards

Mr. Nelson Zuma,

(for The Family.)

N/B.WE ARE ALSO APPOLOGIES FOR BRINGING TO YOU THIS MASSEGE THROUGH MAIL DUE
TO OUR REFUGE STATUS HERE.
PLEASE YOU CAN READ ABOUT PROBLEMS IN ZIMBABWE FROM THE LINKS BELOW.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/918781.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/715001.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1063785.stm


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