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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: "Ernest Debrah Mensah" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <contractor_accra@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2011 11:43:45 +0100
Subject: I NEED YOUR URGENT RESPONSE



Dear Sir,
My name is Mr.Ernest Debrah I am a bank manager here in Ghana. I got your contact from The Ghana Ministry of Foreign Affairs and The Ghana Ministry of Commerce and Industries. I need your help to transfer the amount of US$7,500,000.00 Dollars.
The money is part of the excess profits made by our bank 3 years ago (i.e. 2007 fiscal year). I have already submitted annual report for the year to my bank head quarters in Accra - Ghana, and they did not notice the excess profit. I deposited the US$7,500,000.00 Dollars in an Escrow account account without a beneficiary (Anonymous), to avoid trace.

However, I can not be directly connected to this money because, I am still working with the bank. So, I need your help to transfer this money to your country for me and you to share. I offer you 30% of this money as my foreign partner and 70% would be for me. There is no risk involved because, it will be a bank-to-bank transfer. All I need from you is to stand as my foreign partner and the owner og the money.

If you accept this proposal, I am ready to go into business partnership with you. Please kindly reply to me for more information on how to proceed.

Best regards,
Mr.Mr.Ernest Debrah.

Anti-fraud resources: