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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 Sankoh <paulsankoh635@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2022 09:21:41 +0200
Subject:

Good Day,
With all due respect, I am looking for a partnership that I can trust to
handle my family investment. I am Paul Sankoh the Son of Late Zimbabwe
Farmer Kabba Sankoh, who was murdered by the Zimbabwean veterans. I
write to solicit for your special assistance to a family shattered by a
tyrannical government led by the late dictator Robert Mugabe. Because of
the farmland crisis in Zimbabwe, the government secretly sponsored the war
veterans and some irate party members to dispose of the land being occupied
by Farmers. This action has led to the killing of some members of the
opposition party including my father Kabba Sankoh, before the death of my
father, he anticipated some dangers and he deposited the sum of $5,200,000
(five million two hundred thousand united states dollars only) in South
Africa with the intention of using the fund in opening a manufacturing
company. The war veterans and some supporters of the (ZANU-PF) ruling
party Trooped into our compound and axed my father to death. But I managed
to escape to South Africa as a political asylum seeker (Refugee) but my
Refugee position here in South Africa does not permit me to open an account
or run any huge legal financial business to the permit rules and regulation
in South Africa Refugee law. That is the reason why I want this fund to be
transferred into your private or company bank account, so that you will
assist me to invest it in your country. Please treat this request with
integrity and confidentiality. We would like to discuss the terms and
conditions of the investment.
Best Regards,
Paul Sankoh

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