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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: "Barr. James Uchunor" <barr_james@msn.com>
Date: Thu, 23 Feb 2006 15:02:03 +0000
Subject: BE OUR REPRESENTATOR

Hello Sir/madam,
How are you, My name is James foreman and I own a company that sells African
and Chinese Arts & Crafts in Nigeria, I am looking for a trustworthy
representative in the UK that can help as a link between me and my client
over there.

I would like to know if you are interested to work from home for us BIGLOBE
ARTS INC, needs a book-keeper or representative in the UK, so I want to know
if you will like to work on line from home and getting paid weekly without
leaving or affecting your present job? I presently run a Arts & Crafts firm
in Nigeria and we need someone to work for the company as a
representative/book keeper in the UK.

We have clients we supply weekly in the UK and my clients make payments for
our supplies every week in form of bank wire transfer which are not readily
cashable outside the UK, so we need someone in the UK/Ireland to work as our
representative and assist us in processing the payments from our clients and
I will pay him/her a weekly wage, by percentage.

All you need to do is receive this payment from our clients in the UK or
Ireland and get it cashed in your bank acount then deduct your 10% and
forward the balance to the company down here via money gram or western union
money transfer.

The main reason why the funds cannot be cashed down here is that it would
take 20-24 days for a UK wire transfer to pass through the bank here and
that would tie down my capital and not make business move fast as I
expected, but a UK wire transfer from bank account presented to the bank in
the UK would clear tops withing 48hrs and the person that used to help me
cash the money in his account for months now has relocated to Greece with
his family.

Our payments will be issued out in your bank account with this bank in the
UK, Barclays Bank and you will cash from your bank account, deduct your 10%
of the initial capital and forward the balance to the company by money
transfer. So all I need is to forward your information to our numerous
clients in the UK or Ireland and they will contact you before they issue
payment in form wire transfer into your bank account with any of the above
banks.

If accepted I will need your full name, address, bank account details and
phone number so we can forward it to our clients and they will start making
payments to you as the company representative in the UK.

BELOW IS AN ATTACHED LETTER OF EMPLOYMENT FROM OUR COMPANY WHICH YOU HAVE TO
REPLY WITH AN ACCEPTANCE LETTER AND A SCANNED COPY OF YOUR VALID
IDENTIFICATION ATTACHED TO IT.
AS SOON AS WE CONFIRM ANY PAYMENT COMING TO YOU, I WILL LETYOU KNOW AND I
WILL GIVE YOU THE INFORMATION TO SEND FUNDS TO THE COMPANY VIA WESTERN UNION
MONEYTRANSFER.

Thanks and I await your sooner response.
JAMES UCHUNOR.
Hello Sir/madam,
How are you, My name is James foreman and I own a company that sells African
and Chinese Arts & Crafts in Nigeria, I am looking for a trustworthy
representative in the UK that can help as a link between me and my client
over there.

I would like to know if you are interested to work from home for us BIGLOBE
ARTS INC, needs a book-keeper or representative in the UK, so I want to know
if you will like to work on line from home and getting paid weekly without
leaving or affecting your present job? I presently run a Arts & Crafts firm
in Nigeria and we need someone to work for the company as a
representative/book keeper in the UK.

We have clients we supply weekly in the UK and my clients make payments for
our supplies every week in form of bank wire transfer which are not readily
cashable outside the UK, so we need someone in the UK/Ireland to work as our
representative and assist us in processing the payments from our clients and
I will pay him/her a weekly wage, by percentage.

All you need to do is receive this payment from our clients in the UK or
Ireland and get it cashed in your bank acount then deduct your 10% and
forward the balance to the company down here via money gram or western union
money transfer.

The main reason why the funds cannot be cashed down here is that it would
take 20-24 days for a UK wire transfer to pass through the bank here and
that would tie down my capital and not make business move fast as I
expected, but a UK wire transfer from bank account presented to the bank in
the UK would clear tops withing 48hrs and the person that used to help me
cash the money in his account for months now has relocated to Greece with
his family.

Our payments will be issued out in your bank account with this bank in the
UK, Barclays Bank and you will cash from your bank account, deduct your 10%
of the initial capital and forward the balance to the company by money
transfer. So all I need is to forward your information to our numerous
clients in the UK or Ireland and they will contact you before they issue
payment in form wire transfer into your bank account with any of the above
banks.

If accepted I will need your full name, address, bank account details and
phone number so we can forward it to our clients and they will start making
payments to you as the company representative in the UK.

BELOW IS AN ATTACHED LETTER OF EMPLOYMENT FROM OUR COMPANY WHICH YOU HAVE TO
REPLY WITH AN ACCEPTANCE LETTER AND A SCANNED COPY OF YOUR VALID
IDENTIFICATION ATTACHED TO IT.
AS SOON AS WE CONFIRM ANY PAYMENT COMING TO YOU, I WILL LETYOU KNOW AND I
WILL GIVE YOU THE INFORMATION TO SEND FUNDS TO THE COMPANY VIA WESTERN UNION
MONEYTRANSFER.

Thanks and I await your sooner response.
JAMES FOREMAN.


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