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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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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: ricard pedro angola <p.ricardo11@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2006 06:42:54 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Please, We Need Your Help.


From: Mr. Ricardo Pedro Tel: +27-73-156-6897
E-mail: p.ricardo11@yahoo.com
Attention: Director/CEO

STRICTLY PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL.

Dear Sir,

I know you will be surprised to read a letter from me, but please consider this letter as a request from a family in dare need of assistance. Firstly I must introduce myself. I am Mr. Ricardo Pedro from Angola. I am the first and the only son of the late Brigadier Lawrence Pedro. I am presently residing in South Africa.

I got your address from the internet online . And I, On behalf of my widowed mother Mrs. Juliana Pedro and family decided to solicit for your assistance to transfer the sum of US$ 22 Million (Twenty Two Million United States Dollar) inherited by my late father into your personal/company account.

Before his death he was a brigadier in charge of arms and ammunition procurement for the Angolan army. In his "WILL", he specifically drew my attention to the sum of US$ 22 M, which he deposited in a safe box in a private Security Company in Johannesburg South Africa, as a treasure box fully documented in my name
(Ricardo M. Pedro).

In fact my father said and I quote: "My beloved son, I wish to draw your attention to US$22 M (Twenty Two Million United States Dollar). I deposited the box containing the fund in a Security Company in Johannesburg, South Africa. During the war I was dedicated and committed to winning the war against the rebels until I found out that senior official and government functionaries were busy helping themselves with government funds and properties and sending them to foreign countries. Due to this when the former special advisor to the President and I were assigned by President (Jose Eduardo Santos) to purchase arms in South Africa, we saw this as a golden opportunity and diverted the money shared it and I got a total sum of US$22 Million. In case of my absence on earth as a result of death only, you should solicit for fund investment purposes".

From the above, you will understand that the lives and future of my family depend on this money, as such, I will be grateful if you can assist us. We are now living in South Africa as political asylum seeker and financial laws and regulation of South Africa do not permit asylum seekers financial rights to such huge amount of money. In view of this, I cannot invest in South Africa, hence I am prepared to offer you 25% of the total fund, while 5% will be set aside for local and international expenses and 70% will be kept for my family and I.

Finally, modalities on the transfer will be conveyed to you once we have established trust and confidence between ourselves. Please treat this matter as very urgent.

Your immediate response is appreciated through the above phone numbers.

Best regards,


Mr. Ricardo Pedro


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