The worldwide Scam, populary know as "419" after the relevant section of the Criminal Code of Nigeria, which has run since the early 1980s, has now turned it's focus to the ministry of health in Accra.
"419 scam" is intrinsically an advance fee fraud. The scheme is operated by a fraudster, usually a member of a criminal syndicate, who obtains money or goods from a company or its representative, through deception. It is necessary to make the general public aware of the problem so that they do not become victims of a possible scam.
Read more on 419 scam:
SAMPLE OF TYPICAL "ADVANCE FEE FRAUD" A.K.A. 419 LETTERSACCRA, GHANA.
Dear Sir,
We write to solicit your assistance for a transaction of mutual benefit; believing that you will treat this with utmost confidence. We implore you to excuse us of any embarrassment this letter might cause you, as we have not met before.
I have the mandate of my colleagues in Ghana to solicit for your assistance for a business/deal we want to execute with you. We are officials of the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MHSS) in Ghana. This Ministry awarded a contract of USD$115,800,000.00 (One Hundred and Fifteen Million, Eight Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) to a foreign firm for the supply and installation of Scan machines, X-ray machines, E.C.G machines, Foetus heart and Fasting blood sugar machines for all the University Teaching Hospitals in the country.
I and other senior members of my department (Contract Award Committee), in the cause of writing the contract, we were able to over-invoice the contract sum to the tune of USD$143,300,000.00 (One Hundred and Forty Three Million, Three Hundred Thousand United States Dollars). And it might also interest you to know that the original contractor who executed the contract, have been paid their contract entitlement.
Now we are left with the over-invoiced sum USD$27,500,000.00 (Twenty Seven Million, Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars), for our mutual benefit. All arrangements have been concluded on how this money will be transferred. Our constraints lie on the fact that we require a foreign firm to whom the money would be paid; the foreign firm will be portrayed as the beneficiary of this amount as a contract sum. In fact, this is why l am writing you this letter seeking your assistance.
NOTE : there is no risk involved in this transaction, as we have taken care of all possible loopholes. As civil servants, we are aware that some financial assistance will be required to successfully effect the transfer of the funds. For this reason, we have generally agreed to reimburse you with the sum of USD$4,000,000.00 (Four Million United States Dollars). This would be your share in respect of your assistance, while the balance of USD$23,500,000.00 (Twenty Three Million, Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) have been mapped out for importation of telecommunication equipment, and we also seek your help in this regard.
Please indicate your position on this matter. If you are not willing to assist us, kindly keep the deal to yourself and inform us of your position. It is also important l inform you that the officials involved in this transaction, are top government functionaries who have put in years of service in this country (Ghana). Therefore, for the maintenance of personal integrity and prestige of all persons involved in this transaction, you are implored to exhibit utmost secrecy through out the duration of this deal. You are strongly advised to avoid discussing this transaction with a third party as that could jeopardize the success of this transaction.
Meanwhile, all arrangements for the transfer have been properly organized and further action awaits your response to this request. I am at the moment on official assignment in Ivory Coast. In case you wish to speak with me, you can call me on 225 05 306130. To enable you get through when calling, make sure you do not exclude any digit from the numbers. (225 is the country code), (05 is the area code, dial the 05 exactly the way it is, do not exclude the zero).
For confidentiality sake, please do not send me email, the email address is not a private one. Give me a call and we would arrange a better communication.
Thank you very much.
Mark (rootcyber@onebox.com)
