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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: "Jonathan Kaba" <jkaba2002@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 2010 03:33:05 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Your Assistance Needed




Hi,

I am Jonathan Kaba, of the once presidential family of the former Zaire
(Central Africa) today Congo Kinshasa. My Dad, Mobutu Nelson, lost his
life in a ghastly motor accident all the setup of the ruling government to
claim his wealth and simply because he kicked against all sorts of human
torture in the quest of staying eternally in power.

After the death of my Dad, I and my Mum were obliged to flee out of the
Congo for our safety. We carried nothing along but our family inheritance
left back by my dad (3 trunk boxes containing liquid cash of US$21.5
million). Once we arrived Ghana six months ago, my Mum advised that we
should look for a foreign partner who can help us in receiving the
consignment (the trunk boxes) in the United States so we could fly over
and meet the person for proper investment of our family wealth, all left
with us. We got in contact with Mr Frank Nelves, with whom we agreed that
he will receive the consignment boxes from the Diplomat who carried the
boxes over to the US and we shall offer him 15% of the total value of the
trunk boxes. Once the Diplomat arrived the US, Mr Frank Nelves as greedy
as he is, called my Mum and told her that he’s going to take 50% of the
money or nothing. My Mum quickly called the Diplomat and asked him to
stay with the consignment until further notice.

I am contacting you now so that we could change the documents of the
consignment with the Diplomat and make you the new foreign beneficiary of
the funds, so that the Diplomat will deliver the boxes to you at your
nominated residential address. Note should be taken here that the Diplomat
does not know the real content of the consignments so you should keep it
confidential. I and my Mum (she’s an old woman – 76) have agreed to offer
you 30% of the total value of the three consignments.

All we need from you is your honesty and openness so that we can together
invest our family inheritance in a proper way. Note should be taken here
that I am possession of all the documents and information relating to the
consignments such as the trunk boxes numbers, security codes, etc.) Once
we hear from you at your earliest convenience, we would contact the
Diplomat and let him deliver the consignments to you, if you agree to help
us.

May God bless you as you get to help us.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Kaba
318, Achimota Estate
Accra, Republic of Ghana

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