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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: Ecowas <info@ecowas.com>
Reply-To: agyemanapiah.apiah@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 18 May 2010 21:58:24 +0300
Subject: Ecowas Bid



Dear
,
I am Mr. Agyeman Apiah, a staff of the secretariat of the Economic
Community of
West African States (ECOWAS) in Lome, Togo.

ECOWAS is awarding contracts for the supply of Relief Materials -
Rice, Cloths &
Sleeping materials, and Beverages for victims of drought in the Niger republic
and displaced refugees in western Sudan – Darfur.

The statutes do not permit any staff of ECOWAS to participate in contract bids
and execution in order to avoid the abuse of due process and corporate
governance. In view of this, I am looking for a reputable individual or
corporate body that would secure the bid and execute the contract.

The good thing about the ECOWAS contracts is that:

(1) The contracts are very lucrative, because they are usually awarded
at about
10 times the prevalent market value of the products.
(2) Once you are successful in the bid, 75% of the total contract sum is paid
upfront as mobilization.

Thus, the contract does not necessarily require ownership of a big
company; all
that is required is your ability to convince the ECOWAS consultants (in Ghana)
of your integrity, reliability and competence in the execution of the job.

As an insider, I will provide you with all the necessary pre-qualification
documents, prepare a competitive sample quotation after looking at the
quotation
of other contractors, and make available all necessary information which will
give you an edge over the others and ensure that you emerge the winner at the
bid conference. In return for my assistance, I will have a ten percent
commission from the profit.

If you accept my submission, please contact me on Tel: + 233 54 117
6644, Email:
agyemanapiah.apiah@gmail.com

Sincerely,
Agyeman Apiah


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