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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: JOSEPHKAMADU <josephkamadu9@ig.com.br>
Reply-To: prince.josephkamadu@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:15:35 -0700
Subject: I NEED YOUR HELP


DEAR FRIEND,

I HOPE THIS EMAIL IS REACHING YOU IN A GOOD HEALTH? MY NAME IS JOSEPH

KAMADU AND I AM FROM SIERRA LEONE.

I FOUND YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS FROM A WEBSITE WHEN I WAS SEARCHING FOR A

RELIABLE FOREIGN PARTNER.FOR SOMETIME NOW I HAVE BEEN GOING THROUGH

DIFFICULTIES IN LIFE. IT ALL STARTED WHEN I LOST MY FATHER.MY FATHER

WAS A GREAT OIL MERCHANT IN SIERRA LEONE, HE WAS INTO IMPORT AND EXPORT

OF MAINLY CRUDE OIL.HE WAS POISONED BY ONE OF HIS BUSINESS COUNTERPARTS

AFTER A DISPUTE OVER A BIG CONTRACT FROM A OIL COMPANY IN MY COUNTRY

THAT WAS AWARDED TO MY LATE FATHER IN SIERRA LEONE.

AFTER THE DEATH OF MY FATHER HIS FAMILY MEMBERS MADE AWAY WITH ALL THAT

MY FATHER HAD, AND SENT ME AND MY MOTHER OUT OF MY FATHERS HOUSE, AND

SOLD THE HOUSE, WE COULD NOT FIND THEM AGAIN BECAUSE OF THE WAR THAT

HAPPENED IN MY COUNTRY.TWO WEEKS BACK MY MUM SHOWED ME SOME DOCUMENTS

WHICH MY FATHER USED IN DEPOSITING THE SUM OF $9.8 MILLION DOLLAR IN A

BANK IN GHANA AND THE PICTURES AT THE TIME HE WAS SIGNING THE AGREEMENT

WITH THE BANK,AND HE USED MY NAME AS THE NEXT OF KIN.

I WAS FILLED WITH JOY, AND I TRAVELED To GHANA WITH MY MOTHER.WE GOT TO

THE BANK AND PRESENTED THE LEGAL DOCUMENTS THAT WAS GIVEN TO MY LATE

FATHER AT THE TIME HE DEPOSITED THE MONEY WITH THE BANK.THEY ACCEPTED

THAT THE MONEY IS THERE,BUT THEY CAN NOT RELEASE IT TO ME,BECAUSE MY

FATHER STATED AT THE TIME OF DEPOSIT THAT THE FUND WILL LEAVE AFRICA ON

TRANSIT TO HIS FOREIGN PARTNER OVERSEAS FOR OTHER PURPOSE.

I DID NOT KNOW THAT MY DAD WAS PLANING OF OPENING A COMPANY ABROAD.WE

WERE ADVISED BY THE BANK TO GET A FOREIGN PARTNER WHO IS RELIABLE TO

HELP US RECEIVE THE FUND FROM THE BANK, SO WE WANT YOU TO BE OUR

FOREIGN PARTNER AND HELP US CONTACT THE BANK,SO THAT THE BANK CAN

TRANSFER THE MONEY OF MY LATE FATHER TO YOUR ACCOUNT. MY SELF AND MY

MUM HAVE AGREED TO GIVE YOU 25% OF THE TOTAL FOUND.THEN I AND MY MUM

CAN COME OVER TO YOUR COUNTRY AND START A BETTER LIFE.PLEASE I WANT YOU

TO UNDERSTAND THAT I WANT TO TRUST YOU, AND I FEEL YOU CAN HELP ME AND
MY MUM, THAT IS WHY I AM TELLING YOU THIS TOP SECRET.AS I AM WRITING

YOU THIS MAIL MY EYES ARE FILLED WITH TEARS, BECAUSE MY MUM IS VERY

SICK AND WE DON'T HAVE ANYBODY HERE IN GHANA WE ARE LIVING WITH AN OLD
LADY NAMED MRS NANAEKWEA ADDO WHO WORKS AS A GARDNER IN A COMPANY.

AFTER I HEAR FROM YOU I WILL SEND YOU THE DETAILS CONCERNING THE FUND.I

WILL SEND YOU EVIDENCE OF DEPOSIT ISSUED TO MY LATE FATHER AT THE TIME

HE DEPOSITED THE MONEY WITH THE BANK. , MY FATHERS PICTURES, AT THE

TIME OF DEPOSITING THE FUND WITH THE BANK ,AND HIS CASKET DURING HIS

BURIAL, I WILL ALSO SEND YOU MY PICTURES.PLEASE SEND ME YOUR MOBILE

NUMBER WITH WHICH I CAN USE TO REACH YOU.

I AWAIT YOUR URGENT REPLY.

GOD BLESS YOU,

SINCERELY,
JOSEPH KAMADU

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