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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: Peter Johnson <firstopportunity10@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2012 11:17:02 -0500
Subject: URGENT BUSINESS PROPOSAL


Good day,

I am Mr. Peter Johnson. I represent the interest of my brother in-law who
is a minister in the Syrian Government. As you probably know, there is a
lot of crisis going on currently in Syria and my brother in-law is having
problems with the ruling party and they are currently investigating his
ministry. While he is sure that he has not done anything wrong, there is
also every reason for him to secure to think ahead his family’s future in
case the unexpected happens. He has asked me to help him find a reputable
foreigner who can help him accommodate and invest $73.9 Million US Dollars
privately. These funds are his private money that he has made over the
years in doing side deals and contracts.

I am contacting you with the hope that we can do this business together. We
need your help to accommodate and lodge the funds in the banking system in
your country. We will handle the logistics involved in the movement of the
funds to you. Please note that the entire business will be executed in a
legal way in such that it won’t jeopardize your safely. He has promised to
give you 20% of the total money as compensation for this unusual request
because he understands that a lot of compromise and maneuver must be done
from your side to be able to accommodate and convert this fund for
investment in your country. This project will be done discretely. He also
would like to know if you can help with investing the remaining 80% in a
lucrative business in your country within a period of 5 years.

If this proposal interests you, please kindly respond ASAP. When I get a
positive response from you, I will give you all the details involved in the
execution of this transaction. Hopefully, we can do some good business
together.

Regards,
Peter Johnson.

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