This post is not connected to this forum and this website, but is a general awareness issue.

For several years some con-men in Nigeria have been running a scam called the "Advance Fee Fraud" or 419 scam. The title 419 is actually a criminal law code in Nigeria.Now,the con-men have spread out to neighboring countries like Ivory Coast and Ghana.

The scam kicks off with unsolicited emails, faxes and or letters.

Further details are available at : Nigeria - The 419 Coalition Website.

The scam guys employ bulk mailing techniques, randomly selecting a bunch of targets, on an international scale.

On getting any such mail, its best to designate it as spam, most email accounts have this option.One of such emails has been retrieved from my spam folder, dated 3 August 2009, for your benefit.

Transcript of this scam email, is as follows:



---------------------------------SCAM MAIL TRANSCRIPT BEGINS------------------------------------------------------------------




ECONOMICS AND FINANCIAL CRIME COMMISSION,
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Lagos NIGERIA.
TEL:xxxxxxxxxxxxx
SCAM VICTIMS REIMBURSEMENT FUNDS
OUR REF: 10667FV
YOUR REF: 890

ATTN: BENEFICIARIES,

I write to bring to your notice as a delegate from the Nigerian Government Reimbursement committee under the strict supervision of the United Nations to pay Five Thousand Foreigners scam victims the sum of $950,000.00 USD (Nine Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollars Only) each.

You are however listed as one of the beneficiaries for these payments you are expected to get back to us for your immediate reimbursement as a result of this laudable recommendations, you are hereby informed that during the last U.N. meeting held in Abuja, Nigeria, it was alarmed so much by the rest of the world on the lose of funds by various foreigners to the scam artists operating in syndicates all over the world today.

In other to redeem the good image of our country, the President has ordered the immediate payment of $950,000.00 USD each to the affected victims in accordance with the U.N. recommendations. Due to the corrupt and inefficient Banking Systems in Nigeria these payments are to be made by BARCLAYS BANK PLC, UK as the corresponding paying bank under the funding assistance of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Presently, Two Thousand Five Hundred Beneficiaries have been paid, more than 60% of the Victims are from the United States, while about 40% are from other parts of the world.

Your particulars were among those mentioned by some of the Syndicates That were apprehended in Lagos, Nigeria as one of the victims of the operations, you are hereby warned not to communicate or duplicate this message to anybody for any reason whatsoever as the U.S. secret service in conjunction with The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has swage into action to track this criminals down. Once again, you are expected to keep it secret until these criminals are all apprehended.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) (Motto: No Body is Above the Law) have combined effort with the United Nation Anti-crime Commission to alleviate the plight of these victims as well as redeeming the image of our dear country

Many Banks, Universal firms, Companies and individuals have been in Bankruptcy today, due to the activity of these hoodlums However, a Thorough investigation have revealed that these people have dropped over 500,000 victims across the world, after collecting their money falsely, many as a result of this have committed suicide, while other are now living in abject poverty.

As regards these on going developmental strive; we have over 200 suspects at hand, 135 in kirikri prisons. While many are awaiting trial, we are still in search of others, who think they are wise, and hope that you will assist by giving any vital information that could lead to the apprehension of these hoodlums.

Contact Rev. Emmanuel Akomaye my secretary immediately you receive this message via his email or call him on his number for quick and urgent response:

Email: --xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxx-- or --xxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx--
Telephone: +xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

And reconfirm to him your personal information's below.
NAME IN FULL......................
YOUR CELL NUMBER......................
CONTACT ADDRESS ..................NOT P.O BOX
COPY OF YOUR PICTURE...............

Rev. Akomaye is well informed about your compensation, contact him immediately without any delay. He is waiting to hear from you. Most importantly, do note that your early response to this development will be appreciated.

We shall be waiting to hear from you been certain that your response will be that you are satisfied and willing to claim your $950,000 USD (Nine Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollars Only) Reimbursement funds.

Yours faithfully,
Chief Mrs. Farida Mzamber Waziri
Executive Chairman



-----------------------------------SCAM MAIL TRANSCRIPT ENDS-----------------------------------------------------------------------



The funny thing about scams is they "tempt" you, and like the Bible says that if you "fall" into temptation, you will live to regret it.This is also a technique used by our spiritual adversary Satan.A web of deceit is spun across a small cocoon of truth, and the whole package is made to appear as attractive as possible.

The phone numbers,emails and addresses have purposely been blanked out by me,so that any enterprising soul may not try and use them.The whole email is a complete hogwash and is meant to trap gullible folks.Why should an individual be designated as a beneficiary, without any cause? Unfortunately, many fall into greed and approach the scam guys from where the game begins.

Some Bible verses:

Psalms 10:7 His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.

Proverbs 12:5: The thoughts of the righteous are right: but the counsels of the wicked are deceit.

Proverbs 11:18: The wicked works a deceitful work: but to him that sows righteousness shall be a sure reward.

Psalms 101:7: He that works deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that tells lies shall not tarry in my sight.

2 Timothy 3:13: But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

1 Peter 3:10: For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile.

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A good behavior is to just use the delete button. I get this stuff all the time.

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I have been sent many emails that are scams. I researched the internet for many of the email addresses. There are many pages that talk about the scams and give email address that scammers use. . I got one email that was from a Law Firm. I checked out the firm on the internet and it is a real law firm. I believe that some scammers are even using real company names. We must all remember that some of them may have been doing this for years and are very good at sounding convincing. Also,wouldn't information such as someone being a beneficiary be sent by a certified letter, instead of email?

Regarding the suggestion to delete the mails, it is also good.However, if you designate a particular mail as "spam", the next one arriving from that particular address will automatically be put in your spam folder.So, you will not have to manually delete the mails.

You can also change the settings of your spam folder, so that it will be automatically emptied, after a certain time.

Agreed that the scamsters are getting more sophisticated, and may quote existing legal entities, in their mails.The issue here is that most of such mails will almost certainly allege to appropriate you some benefit, in lieu of nothing.Most of us know that this is not possible.

Any mail that solicits your address and personal particulars, from an entity that is unknown to you, is risky. These are called "phishing" scams.