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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: "Mr. Joel Obong" <obong692@msn.com>
Reply-To: <joel.obong@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 17 Aug 2011 02:08:54 +0000
Subject: HOW ARE YOU?






Good Evening Friend,
I Am Mr. Joel Obong. The Manager, Bills And Exchange at the
Foreign Remittance Department in a Bank. Actually, I have a very
urgent & confidential Business Proposition for you & for our overall
mutual interest. On the 6th of March 2001, our Customer, an American
National, late .James W. Barbella, an Oil Merchant / Contractor with
the Federal Government of Nigeria, deposited, a valued amount of
US$32Million in my branch. Upon maturity, I sent a routine
notification to his forwarded address but got no reply.

After a month we sent a reminder, & finally we discovered from his
contract employers NNPC, that late .James W. Barbella, until his death
eight years ago in a ghastly terrorist attack to American Airlines
Flight 11, from Boston, Massachusetts, to Los Angeles, California,
crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center (WTC) with 86
people on board. All occupants of the aero plane unfortunately lost
their lives. On further investigation, I found out that he did
not leave a WILL and all attempts to trace his Next of kin were
fruitless. I therefore made further investigation and discovered that
late. .James W. Barbella, did not declare any Next of kin in all his
official documents.

This sum US$32Million is still floating in the bank and the interest
is being rolled over with the principal sum at the end of each
year. No one will come forward to claim it.. According to Nigerian
Laws, at the expiration of 10 years, the money will revert to the
Ownership of the Nigerian Government if nobody applies to claim the
funds. Consequently, my proposal is that i will like you as a
foreigner to stand in as a Next of kin of late .James W. Barbella,

This is simple. All I require is your honest and co-operation to
enable us see this deal through. I guarantee that this will be
executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from
any breach of the law.
I will want you to send to me on your return email the following
information for the transfer in your favor.

1. Your full names as the Beneficiary of the Fund.
2. Your contact address.
3. Your private phone and fax numbers

Let's consider that our ratio of sharing will be as stated Thus;1. I
as the Originator of the Fund will take 50% of the transferable
Fund.2.
You as the Manager of the Fund will take 50% of the transferable
Fund. Most importantly, CONFIDENTIALITY as what I saw as the life
wire to the success of the transfer of this Fund must have to be
emulated between you and me.
You have to use this media to promise me that you will not in anyway
expose the content of this transaction to anybody be it your
Friends, Colleagues and Co-Workers.
I will also want you to send your reply to this email
as soon as you get this mail to enable us discuss on the modalities
and processes for success of this transaction.

Thanks for your anticipated cooperation and understanding.
I wait for your kind response. Thanks And Remain blessed.

Mr. Joel Obong.

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