419 scam: "Yusuf Abubakar" <yusufabubakar1001@ymail.com> Respected.

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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:

This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "million us dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "abidjan" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: "Yusuf Abubakar" <yusufabubakar1001@ymail.com>
Reply-To: yusufabubakar101@ymail.com
Date: Tue, 3 Jul 2012 13:45:22 -0500
Subject: Respected.

Dear Sir,

My name is Yusuf Abubakar from Libya, presently in Abidjan,Cote d'Ivoire
with the United Nations on Asylum. I got your contact from a Web Page
Directory on Investment and resettlement program. I am 22yrs old and as it
is now I am no longer comfortable with my present condition here:
I hereby seek your assistance in the following ways:

(1) To help me come over to your country for resettlement, until the war
in my country is over.
(2) To also help me in getting the fund which I inherited from my father
over to your country. The fund is worth $15million US dollars and it was
transferred into his foreign account here in this country before he later
told me to move down here for security reasons. Unfortunately my father
died in one of the numerous attacks carried out against the former
government of Libya.
Right now I am confused here and do not know where to start from since I
can no longer easily go back to Libya now due to the present situation of
things right there now.

I will also compensate you greatly for this assistance, when I come over
to your country but only if you can be able to assist in transferring my
fund and also re-settling in your country and investing in a lucrative
business venture.

Regards,
Yusuf Abubakar,
Salaam.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam