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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: joe frank <patrickredcross00@gmail.com>
Reply-To: joefrankegoigwe2021@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2022 23:20:13 -0800
Subject: GOOD DAY SIR

GOOD DAY SIR,

This letter is for your personal attention and should be treated as
such. I am contacting you because you live in a country I want to
invest in.
My name is

Engr Joefrank Egoigwe and I am the Director of Projects
with the Liquefied Gas Corporation (LGC) in Nigeria . I am asking for
your cooperation in a transaction which involves the transfer of
$35Million and your role is to receive the funds on my behalf for
investments and safekeeping. I therefore crave your indulgence to
read the details of the transaction below.

SOURCE OF FUNDS: In my capacity as the Director of Projects, I
assisted a foreign Italian company to win contract valued up to
$1.8billion in the execution of liquefied gas projects. The CEO of
the company in his capacity as the owner rewarded me with the sum of
$35Million for my role in helping his company win the contract as well
as upward review in the contract value. This deal was kept secret
between myself and the president of the company. In order to avoid
subjecting my share of the funds to a boardroom decision, the company
owner had suggested to me that it would be better we have the excess
amount of $35Million transferred to his personal account in Italy.
Unfortunately, the president of the company died of corona virus last
year in Venice ,few days after we had commenced the process of
transferring the money to his account in Italy, the money is now left
floating in the escrow account of Federal Ministry of Finance
deposited in Central Bank of Nigeria .
By the virtue of my position as a civil servant, I cannot acquire the
funds in my name. This is because top civil servants are not allowed
to own or operate bank accounts outside our country for now. I now
need someone into whose account the funds would be transferred to
hence I am contacting you.
To commence the process, you should furnish me with the name and
address we should use in processing the payment. You should also
furnish me with your phone and fax line for easy contact.
The transaction, although discrete, is legitimate and there is no risk
or legal disadvantages either to me or yourself now or in the future
as all contract papers would be procured in your name to justify the
source of funds. Note also that the funds would be transferred to you
as contract payment. The nature of your business does not really
matter. What is important is your ability to receive the funds and
disburse appropriately.
Sharing: For your participation, we will split the funds on the basis
of 70/30 sharing ratio. That is 70% for me while 30% is for you.
My alternate email address is
Best Regards,

Engr Joefrank Egoigwe

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