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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: "jane morgan" <janemorgan17@me.by>
Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2008 01:40:53 +0100
Subject: I NEED YOUR ASSISTANCE


DEAR FRIEND,

I HOPE THIS EMAIL IS REACHING YOU IN A GOOD HEALTH? MY NAME IS JANE MORGAN.
I AM 19YEARS OLD, MY FATHER IS CHIEF GILBERT MORGAN 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 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 $4.7 MILLION DOLLAR IN A SECURITY FIRM IN GHANA, 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 SECURITY FIRM AND PRESENTED THE LEGAL
DOCUMENTS THAT WAS GIVEN TO MY LATE FATHER AT THE TIME HE DEPOSITED THE
MONEY WITH THE SECURITY FIRM AS CONSIGNMENT.THEY ACCEPTED THAT THE
CONSIGNMENT IS THERE, BUT THEY CAN NOT RELEASE IT TO US, BECAUSE MY FATHER
STATED AT THE TIME OF DEPOSIT THAT THE CONSIGNMENT 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 SECURITY FIRM TO GET A FOREIGN PARTNER WHO IS
RELIABLE TO HELP US RECEIVE THE FUND FROM THE SECURITY FIRM, SO WE WANT YOU
TO BE OUR FOREIGN PARTNER AND HELP US CONTACT THE SECURITY FIRM, SO THAT
THEY CAN TRANSFER THE MONEY OF MY LATE FATHER TO YOU. MY SELF AND MY MUM
HAVE AGREED TO GIVE YOU 25% OF THE TOTAL FUND. THEN I AND MY MUM CAN COME
OVER TO YOUR COUNTRY AND START A BETTER LIFE. 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 CAROLINE
KWESI WHO WORKS AS A GARDNER IN A COMPANY.I HAVE ALL EVIDENCE AND DOCUMENTS
COVERING THE CONSIGNMENT DEPOSIT IN THE SECURITY FIRM WHICH WAS ISSUED TO MY
DAD AT THE TIME OF DEPOSIT I WILL WANT YOU TO GET BACK TO ME WITH YOUR
TELEPHONE NUMBER WHICH I CAN USE TO REACH YOU I AWAIT YOUR URGENT REPLY. GOD
BLESS YOU,

SINCERELY,

JANE MORGAN.

i

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