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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: "Michael B Tony" <michaeltony205@yahoo.com> (may be fake)
Date: Wed, 2 Nov 2005 01:01:13 +0000
Subject: Please Help

Hello

I want to great you in the name of the Almighty God.I want to formally
introduce myself to you,I am Michael B Tony of Sierra-Leone seeking
political sylume here in Ghana in a refugee camp here in Ghana.

It so happens that,my late father deposited an amount of $20.5 million
us dollars with a security company in Amsterdam with my name as the
next of kin,the company does not know the content of the box,they only know
it contains family belongings.

I now want to ask for your asistance as my late fathers foreign partner
to help us make this claim from the security company and then transfer
it to your country for invest,so that after the money has been
transfered to you,you will then send me an invitation letter for me to
come and meet you in your country fro investment.

For your assistance,my family and i are prepared to give you 25% of the
total amount of money and 5% will be for any expenses you may incure
during this trsansaction.My late fathers lawyer here in Ghana is the
only one who knows that the box conatins money and thats why he is also
here to help us in Ghana as a Ghanaian and a man who has good relations
here.

If you are interested in helping us to make our claim and then we start
investment,i will like you to forward your telephone and fax numbers to
me so that you can contact my lawyer for the documents and also tell us
what next to do.

I need your help seriously because i am a young boy of 19 yrs and know
nothing about business or anything,thats why i need your help.I will
also like you to let me know of any good investments in your country
and also i will like to buy a house there and build a company.

Thanks and God Bless.
Michael.





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