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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: "Abdulqader Zafik" <abdulzafik@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2011 10:40:50 -0400
Subject: 6th April, 2011

Hello,

Firstly, I apologize for sending you this sensitive information via e-mail
instead of a Certified mail/Post-mail. This is due to the urgency and
importance of the
information.

My name is Abdulqader Zafik I am one of the aids to leader and president
of Libya, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. My job is to take care and supply
president Muammar Gaddafi house hold, with food and other vital issues in
the palace of Gaddafi.

However, when this crisis started, we advice our leader to try and avert
it but as you know who Colonel Gaddafi is, he can not listen to anyone
but his heart and if you try and persist you will be killed.

Furthermore, why I am writting you this letter is to ask for your help and
honesty in what I am about to disclose to you should be handled with
utmost
confidentiality because this can cost me my life. I was carrying out my
daily duty in the house of Colonel Gaddafi when i discovered a box in
his inner chambers. In the early days of the crisis, Colonel Gaddafi could
not put his eyes on all his monies. I opened the box and discovered a
large sum of money amounting to $8.500.000.000 (eight million and five
hundred thousand dollars). Initially, I thought of informing his son Seif
el-Islam Gaddafi about the money but a second thought told me that, the
money will be spent in killing my own people. I have been in great sorrow
and sadness since the crisis started but what can we do nothing,if you try
anything you will be killed.

As at this moment, the money in question has been posted through a
security network in Libya to overseas for safety in my favour. I have ben
given the code and access numbers which I shall use when the war is over.
But with the look of things and what our president has done to us, I do
not think we are safe and also, with a large sum of money of this nature
in a company abroad, i think delay is dangerous, because as I speak to
you, all my traveling documents and that of my wife and my three children
has been seized by Colonel Gaddafi, even for us to communicate through the
phone is not possible, I had to use this midium to contact you through a
good friend who is a journalist and he was the one who gave me you e-mail
address that I should contact you maybe you can help.

Do note that for your assistance, I am ready to share the funds with you
50/50. Please if you can help get back to me as soon as possible in order
for me to inform you of the modalities to collect the funds from the
security company as the legal beneficiary of the funds. And please deal
with this matter with total confidentiality and urgency.

Thank you very much for your attention.

Regard.
Abdulqader Zafi
abdulzafik@gmail.com

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