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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: "Abdul-Majid Hafiz" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <h_abdulmajid@yahoo.com.tr>
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2011 15:53:55 +0100
Subject: HELLO

Salaam,

I am Obyan Mohammed J Alqahtani son of Abdullahi Alqahtani who is a business associate to the late Saudi construction magnate and billionaire Rafik Hariri also one time prime minister of Lebanon. My father and i have been on the run(self exile) as there have been attempts on our lives as a result of documents and facts from investigations into Rafik Hariri's murder which are in my father's possesion. This documents will expose the group responsible for Mr.Hariri's murder as an investigation as been reopened. As a result of this situation we are in hiding due to attempts on our lives. We are currently somewhere in the Southern pacific, it is a remote island and there are about 100/140 inhabitants here, so it is really difficult getting through to civilization from my location.

www.nytimes.com/2010/10/29/world/middleeast/29lebanon.html

Before the death of Mr Rafik Hariri (may his soul rest in peace), they where involved in a private transaction involving crude oil and the sum of 29.4million pounds was deposited in my name in a united kingdom bank, my father needed to be out of Public Service before investing the money. At this time,i would need your help in retrieving the money as it is currently in a bank in England and therefore transferring the funds to a safe account outside U.K. I would issue you a power of Attorney to act on my behalf.

The project has some constraints to it. Due to some circumstances beyond my control and the situation on ground ,that is why i contacted you to act on my behalf. I got your contact while searching for a trust worthy and business oriented personality in the internet.

I am willing to offer 10% of the total funds which amounts to 2.94 million pounds if you help me retreive the funds from my bank in England.

If you know you can handle this please get back to me with the details below:

Name, occupation, sex, address and location, mobile number, a valid identity card. There has to be a very high level of trust here as we cannot compromise the success of this transaction and it would be an added advantage if you are very good in conducting and executing business transactions without hitches.

We do not have a full access to the internet, we are so far away from civilization, precisely in the mountain side which is so many kilometers(48hrs and more drive) away from the city, there's a construction worker of Iraqi decent here who i do always pay some money to allow me have access to the internet via his mobile satellite device connected to an outdated desk top, but it is better than nothing. Atleast we have limited communication and we are not known to anyone here, so it is really peaceful.

Note that you can only contact me via email, i can only contact you via phone if the need be, for security reasons. As soon as i confirm your reliability, trust and dedication, i will reveal the bank where the money is deposited and all the relevant documents so as to give you an insight and instruction on where i would be needing your help. please try to involve a high level of confidentiality when handling this transaction especially when it comes to our where about at the moment. You can contact me via my private email.

obyanmja@yahoo.com.tr

I await your response. Thank you.
Obyan.

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