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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: Ahmed Moustapha <m_amadas79@yahoo.fr>
Reply-To: m_amadas1@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Sun, 4 May 2008 19:08:55 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: I am looking forward to hear from you.


Dear Sir,
May the blessing of God be upon you and grant you the wisdom and
sympathy to understand my situation and how much I need your help.
I am Ahmed Moustapha the first son of col.Abubakar Moustapha, former national
security adviser to the ousted Sierra Leone military head of state, Paul Koroma. I am writing to express my interest in real estate or landed properties in your country. Though my father died in detention a couple of months ago while been detained by the new government. Before his untimely death, he instructed me to leave the country for my safety and start up a business somewhere out side
Africa. He reviewed to me of a deposit of one diplomatic box which he concealed
with one of the private security company here in Dakar containing US$5.5M
(Five million, five hundred thousand united states dollars) declared as family
valuables.
Actually, I have never met you before, it was a friend of my fathers
who happened to be present at his burial that advised me to consider your
country for my investments. After due consideration, I started searching the web side where I got your email address. No one else is aware of my proposal to you. Due to social, economic and political instability in west African region, I decided to seek your assistance in transferring this money to your position for investment purposes. I have all the vital documents that covers the deposit which could be faxed to you upon request.
Please note that Transaction of this nature demands the highest trust and confidence between both parties.
For your assistance in this transfer, I have decided to give you 20% of the total sum involved and I will also compensate you with 5% for the inconveniences and for expenses that we may in cure during the process.
Your acceptance of this proposal or otherwise should please be communicated through my E-mail .
Your quick response will be appreciated.
However, if you are not disposed to assist, kindly destroy this letter to protect the identity and confidentiality of the parties involved.
I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenient time.
Yours Sincerely,
Ahmed Moustapha.


__________________________________________________
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http://mail.yahoo.fr Yahoo! Mail
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
En finir avec le spam? Yahoo! Mail vous offre la meilleure protection possible contre les messages non sollicités
http://mail.yahoo.fr Yahoo! Mail

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