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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: Smith Jerry Ford <urgentneed@walla.com>
Reply-To: smithjerry7@yahoo.com
Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2006 12:30:35 +0100
Subject: URGENT NEED


Mr. Smith Jerry Ford
smithjerry7@yahoo.com

Dear,

In appreciation of your esteemed contact received trough a reliable source and the choiceof your country which have a stable and strong economy. I wish to introduce myself to you.
My name is Mr. Smith Jerry Ford, the stepson of Mr. Terry Ford of Zimbabwe.
During the current crisis against the white farmers of Zimbabwe by the supporters of President Robert Mugabe to claim all the white owned farms in our country, he ordered all the white farmers to surrender their farms to his sister, party members and loyalists.

Mr. Terry Ford, my father was one of the farmers in the country and knowing that he did not support the president's political ideology; the president's loyalist invaded my father's farms on March 18th 2002 and burnt down everything, killed him (My father) and confiscated all his investment and properties. Before this ugly incident, my Mother and Terry had already visited Spain and deposited the sum of Forty-six million dollars (US$46.m) in the safe vault a security and financial company in Madrid, Spain. This action was taken because Mr. Terry Ford growing tension on the farm issue although he never anticipated the tragedy that brought his brutal death. At the time he deposited the consignment, the actual content was not disclosed to the financial company officials, instead, it was deposited as a family Treasure / Valuables? Valued for the real content in the consignment.

After the bloody incident, we all had to escape to Spain for safety of our lives. On getting to Barcelona, Spain, where my mother and I having been living as a political refugees.
I am therefore seeking your assistance as a trustworthy person, in moving this fund out for safe banking and profitable investments in your country. I contacted you because I cannot invest this fund in Spain due to my status here as a political refugee, and I wouldn't want to take a risk because this funds is all that I and my mother is depending upon for the rest of our lives. We want to be prudent with these funds.

My mother and I are seriously looking forward to a trusted person that will assist us with the convenient and legal transfer of funds out of Spain. If you accept my proposition to transfer these funds to your country, we will offer you twenty-five percent (25%) of the total sum, and five percent (5%) will beset aside to cover any expenses incurred during this transaction. Seventy percent (70%) will be used for investment into equity shares, in your company or any profitable investment in your country under your supervision.

We would appreciate your confidentiality and honest in our correspondence. Your immediate response will highly appreciate. You can always contact me with the above email address, or telephone numbers so that we can arrange to have a meeting to conclude this transaction as soon as possible in Madrid or Barcelona. I will be looking forward to hearing from you soonest. You can visit this links. CNN.com-Murdered farmer's dog rescued-March19, 2002
www.thefarmer.co.zw/headlines.html


Yours faithfully,
Smith Jerry Ford



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