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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: "Dr. Famous Kwesi" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <dr.famouskofi@rocketmail.com>
Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2013 06:55:24 -1200
Subject: Re: Please respond to my mail..

Good day,
 
I am Dr. Famous Kwesi,trained and working as an Account Officer with the International Commercial Bank of Ghana (ICB). I write to contact you about a foreigner who came from the same country as yours, who died here in Ghana over a decades ago leaving behind an estate/capital of US$12.8M here in International Commercial Bank of  Ghana. However, the Investor died with no next-of-kin, nobody came forward all these years to lay claim of this inheritance.
 
I have decided to work with you to secure the funds and propose 40% offer for you. If you are interested, you are advised to email me through my private email (dr.famouskofi@rocketmail.com) the following information stated below:-
 
1.YOUR FULL NAMES:
2.CONTACT ADDRESS:
3.AGE:
4.TELEPHONE AND FAX NUMBER:
5.OCCUPATION:
6.IDENTIFICATION, IF ANY
 
Upon hearing from you, I will unfold more details and how to commence with the transaction.
 
Best regards,
Dr. Famous Kwesi

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