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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: "KOFFI ASARE" <koffiasare002@ig.com.br>
Reply-To: prince.josephkamadu1987@gmail.com
Date: Sun, 6 Jul 2008 18:47:55 +0100
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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