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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: susan121@mchsi.com (susan )
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 13:06:57 +0000
Subject: HELLO PLEASE READ!!!

Hello Dear,
My Name is Susan Owusu from the Volta region in Ghana. I am the daughter of the
later Paramount Chief of the Volta region. If I must educate you on a little
history, Before March 1957 Ghana (West Africa) was called the Gold Coast. The
Portuguese who came to Ghana in the 15th Century found so much gold between the
rivers Ankobra and the Volta that they named the place Mina - meaning Mine.
http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/history/
Since the passing of the paramount chief, I have had problems with his brothers
who decided to take all that he has left behind. This, as you might not know is
a common practice here in Africa. Since the paramount chief was not so educated
and did not leave a will. The paramount chief did leave a deposit of gold with
a local security company in my name. I have kept this very secret for a long
time now. I have decided to look for a good friend whom I can trust as I have
completely lost confidence in my uncles over here. I will attach my picture in
my next mail as I will also like to have a picture or identification of you as
we look to build a good relationship. I did a personal search on the internet
and after looking at your profile decided to contact while hoping we could
become good friends.
I will give you further details once I get a positive response from you.
Reply through my personal email address: susowusu121@gmail.com
regards,
Susan.

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