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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: "Paul Mensah." (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mensah.p01@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2011 20:42:09 -0400
Subject: Contact Back

Good day,

My name is Paul Mensah. I work with the Ghana oil pipe line construction project commission. I am the Personal Assistant to the contract award committee Chairman, in charge of allocating oil pipe line contracts.This commission was recently introduced after the recent discovery of crude oil in a very Commercial quantity. The Ghana Oil Pipeline commission, are giving out multi-million dollar pipeline contracts to foreign investors, and with the aid of the united nations,33% upfront of total contract sum will be given to the foreign contractors who are successful in getting approved for the contract.


Being the PA to the contract award committee chairman, I am very much in the position to include your name or company name as one of the nominated foreign contractors to secure a multi-million dollar contract. Immediately we get your name approved, you will be paid 33% upfront of the total contract sum. I will indeed be glad if you can immediately call me on my private direct line, So I can brief you in details what we both stand to benefit from this great business opportunity. I Will be expecting to hear from you today. Delay is not encouraged, as every top government official is interested in bringing their own foreign investors. I look forward to hear from you soon.


Best Regards,

Mr. Paul Mensah
Ghana Oil Co.
International government owned
PO Box 3183, Accra, Ghana
Direct Line: +233 2049 36025

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