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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: =?iso-8859-7?q?JOHNSON=20WURU?= <johnsonwuru@yahoo.gr>
Reply-To: johnsonwuru50@yahoo.com
Date: Tue, 28 Aug 2007 15:53:40 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: URGENT BUSINESS PROPOSAL


¸÷ù êáéíïýñãéá äéåýèõíóç email!Ôþñá ìðïñåßôå íá ìïõ óôÝëíåôå email óôç äéåýèõíóç: johnsonwuru@yahoo.gr



- AV DIPLOMATIC SECURITY COMPANY LTD (AFRICAN REGIONAL HEADQUARTERS) AV SECURITY COMPLEX PLOT307/8 VICTORIA ISLAND, SIR, YOU HAVE BEEN RECOMMENDED TO ME BY AN ASSOCIATE, WHO IN CONFIDENCE ASSURED ME OF YOUR RELIABLILITY, HONESTY AND ALSO TRUSTWORTHY OF TRANSACTING BUSINESS WITH.I KNOW THAT THIS MAIL MAY COME TO YOU AS A SURPRISE SINCE I HAD NOT BEEN HAVING PREVIOUS CORRESPONDENCE WITH YOU.FIRSTLY, I HAVE TO ASSURE YOU THAT THE MAIL YOU ARE READING IS NO JUNK, NEITHER IS IT AN ILUSION NOR MERE IMAGINATION BUT PRACTICALY ACHIEVEABLE IF GIVEN YOUR MAXIMUM CO-OPERATION AND SUPPORT.MY NAME IS MR JOHNSON WURU THE OPERATIONS MANAGER OF THE ABOVE COMPANY.I AM 56 YEARS OLD, MARRIED WITH THREE SONS.I HAVE A BUSINESS PROPOSITION FOR YOU.I JOINED THE SERVICES OF THIS FIRM 20YRS AGO AS AN OFFICE ASSISTANCE.SINCE THEN, I?VE BEEN WATCHING WITH METICULOUS PRECISION HOW AFRICAN HEADS OFSTATES USES OUR FIRM TO TRANSFER GOVT STOLEN MONEY TO THEIR FRIENDS OR FAMILY MEMBERS ABROAD. I AM WRITING YOU FOR AN ASSISTANCE TO EXECUTE A DEAL WHICH AT THE END WILL BE HIGHLY PROFITING TO BOTH OF US.THE LIKES OF GEN.SANNI ABACHA (LATE) OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, PRESIDENT MOBUTU SESE SEKO (LATE) OF PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ZAIRE AND LATE PRESIDENT SAMUEL DOE OF THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA AND OTHER BUSINESS/ GOVERNMENT AGENTS AND CONTRACTORS STILL HAS UNCLAIMED CONSIGNMENTS OF MONEY DEPOSITED WITH OUR FIRM.ALL THESE HEADS OF STATE AND OTHER TOP OFFICIALS DO BRING THESE CONSIGNMENTS OF MONEY CASH TO OUR OFFICE FOR FURTHER TRANSFER TO THEIR RELATIONS OR PARTNERS ABROAD.OUR COMPANY SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THIS YEAR HAS CHANGED OUR CONDITION OF SERVICES.SINCE SOME OF OUR CLIENTS DON'T GIVE ANYBODY THEIR DEPOSIT DOCUMENTS.SOME DIE HAVING NOBODY TO COME FOR THE CLAIMS.IT HAS BEEN AGREED WITHIN THE TOP MANAGEMENT THAT ANY BODY OR RELATION WHO COMES FOR THE CLAIMS OF THE CONSIGNMENTS, AND CANNOT PROVIDE THE DOCUMENTS BUT CAN BE ABLE TO ANSWER CORRECTLY THE SECRET QUESTIONS, SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO CLAIM THE CONSIGNMENT ON DEMAND. I HAVE PLANS TO CLAIM ONE OF THE CONSIGNMENT WITH CODE NUMBER AVXX7012DS CONTAINING USD$22.3M WHICH HAS BEEN UNCLAIMED FOR THE PAST 15YEARS AND WAS DEPOSITED BY ONE OF OUR NUMEROUS CUSTOMERS WHO ARE NOW LATE.I WANT YOU TO ASSIST ME SUCCESSFULY CLAIM THIS CONSIGNMENT.THERE IS NO RISK INVOLVED.I AM TO GIVE YOU EVERY INFORMATION YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THESE.THE ANSWERS TO THE SECRET QUESTION I AM TO PROVIDE FOR YOU.I AM THE OPERATIONS MANAGER AND EVERY TRANSACTION IS GOING TO BE REVOLVED AROUND ME.I SUGGEST UPON CONCLUSION, THAT YOU TAKE 30% OF THE TOTAL SUM WHILE 5% WILL BE FOR REFOUND OF MISCELLEANOUS EXPENCES INCURED IN THE CAUSE OF THE TRANSACTION.THE REMAINING 65% WILL BE FOR ME.I HAVE PLANS TO MOVE OVER TO YOUR COUNTRY ON RETIREMENT TO START A NEW LIFE. BE ASSURED OF MY COVERAGE HERE.YOU ARE ONLY REQUIRED TO KEEP THIS STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL.THE ONLY THING REQUIRED FROM YOU FOR A HITCHFREE TRANSACTION ARE, YOUR NAME, PRIVATE PHONE/FAX NUMBERS INCLUDING YOUR CONTACT ADDRESS.ANTICIPATING YOUR URGENT AND FAVOURABLE RESPONSE TO THIS BUSINESS PROPOSITION BEST REGARDSMR JOHNSON WURU


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