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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.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "larry cole" <larrycole_chambers@msn.com>
Reply-To: larry_coleuk@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Fri, 06 Jan 2006 10:30:06 +0000
Subject: Top of the day to you.

Top of the day to you.
My name is LARRY J C. MUGUDA. I am an attorney by
profession.I am from Zimbabwe.
I represent the family of Mr Fredrick Smith, a white
farmer who was murdered recently by agents of the
incumbent President of zimbabwe,President Robert
Mugabe.I have been Mr Smith's attorney for the past
twelve years.
He was born and bred in zimbabwe.His parents
lived,died and were buried in Zimbabwe.Before his
brutal murder,he was a successfull farmer and a rich
man by any standard.He inherited the farm lands from
his late parents.He had been fighting the cause of the
white farmers in Zimbabwe before his death.He was also
a strong member of the opposition party.The government
claimed he was murdered by hoodlums.But we know he was
killed by government security agents.This assertion is
not only predicated on the events that preceeded the
murder but also that after the murder.On several
occasions before his death,the government agents had
swooped on his house,ransacked it and harrassed
members of his family,claiming they were looking for
arms(which were never found there).Immediately after
he was killed,the government security agents went to
his house and made away with several of his documents
and thereafter caused his bank accounts and that of
his wife to be frozen.The government also
confisticated his farm land on the trump up allegation
that it was being used to stockpile arm and
ammunition.This of course is a blattant lie.Nothing of

such was found in the farm.
As his attorney for many years,i came to his defense
to put the record straight.This turned out to be my
greatest undoing as this signaled the beginning of my
travails.I was accussed of working with him to
destabilised the government.I was bundled into jail
for over a year until i was released recently.
The governent agents have since been on my tail.My
movement is restricted.I am not allowed to leave the
country.Roughly a year before his death Mr Smith
confided in me that from the way the political and
economic climate was in Zimbabwe,that it would be wise
for him to enlarge his business coast by investing
overseas.It was his intention to invest in real
estate(properties).I was to handle it on his
behalf.Consequently as his trusted friend and
attorney,he instructed me to help him move out of the
country the sum of USD15Million Overseas from the
prying eye of the government agents,preparatory to the
commencement of the investment.This i did.But he never
lived to see the actualisation of his dream as he was
hewed down by agents of the government.The money is
presently with a Finance/security firm oversea.This
was over two year ago. I would like to mentioned here
that Mr Smith left behind an invalid wife,three
children-ages 16,14 and 8.The last born has a blood
condition.The survival of this family now depends on
me.I am ready to spill the last drop of my blood to
make sure that they do not suffer.He was like a
brother to me.
I am therefore looking for an honest individual or
corporate body who is willing to help claim this money
on my behalf from the Finance/security house Overseas
and invest it on behalf of the family. Should you be
interested in this transaction,please let me know in
your response to me(via larry_coleuk@yahoo.co.uk
by
furnishing me with your full names, address,tel and
fax number.
I shall call you on phone for further discussion when
i receive the requested information.I shall also
furnish you with details of the proceedure/modalities
for the prosecution of the transaction thereafter.
Note that you will be adequately remunerated for your
assistance.This shall be discussed and agreed upon
before the commencement of the transaction.
I look forward to your prompt response.
My regards.

L.MUGUDA
 
 

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