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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: "Dr Michael Kwame" <drmichaelkwame@hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, 17 Jun 2006 20:25:21 +0000
Subject: RE: HELLO VICTIM-FULLNAME

Dear Friend,
I am quite glad that you are willing to work with me on this deal.I assure
you that there is no risk to it for either you or me. Please be assured,
also, that the deal cannot take more than 10 working days to conclude.As you
already know, the deceased died in testate, thereby creating a problem for
both my bank and the bank of Ghana as to where to turn the money to.
Normally and in circumstances that are normal, the fund would be turned over
to the trust fund for arms and ammunition of the Ghana Army for the
furtherance of the course of war. Believe it or not, Ghana has not been in
any war since independence;therefore, the fund would end up in the coffers
of some sleazy general or the other who couldn't give a rat's ass what
happens after that.

To forestall this development, I contacted you with the hope that we will be
able to front you as a cousin to the deceased and the sole inheritor to her
estate thereby making it possible for the fund to be handed over to you and
we will subsequently share it in the ratio afore mentioned. As is the law,
if a person dies in testate and there is a claim that can be validated, the
estate of the deceased is turned over to the claimant.

To achieve this goal, all we need to do is to get certain back up documents,
which will prove that you are related to the deceased and is entitled to the
estate. You do not need to worry about the processes of obtaining the said
documents as everything has been thought out and well planned. We shall
first obtain statements of fact that will proclaim that you are the sole
inheritor of the estate. We will also obtain Letters of Administration
*since there is no will). We will also obtain approvals from the various
ministries and get a copy of the death certificate.

I will send you copies of these documents for your own file. On your part, I
need you to send me your full names and address, religion and age,your
international passport, and the bank account information that would be used
to receive the fund. All this information would be used to obtain the
necessary documents and process the transfer of the fund to your account.As
soon as I have this information from you, I shall immediately give them to
our Attorney here who will obtain the documents and possibly send them to
you. As soon as the documentation process is completed, application for the
transfer of the fund will immediately be effected. Please do not worry as we
have 100% confident as to the success of the deal.

I would also appreciate it if you could possibly give me your personal
direct phone and fax numbers for easy communication between us.If there is
anything that you do not understand or if you have any questions of any sort
concerning this deal,I implore you not to hesitate in asking me.Once again,
I thank you for the confidence you have placed in me and I also have
confidence in you. I do sincerely look forward to working with you on this
deal and the subsequently doing business with you on a Commercial level if
such a thing is possible as I would like to have my share of the fund
invested. As you may already have guessed,I do not wish for such investment
to be here in Ghana or anywhere near Africa for that matter.

Sincerely,
DR.Michael Kwame

_________________________________________________________________
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