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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: "Secret Shopper®" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <andnorth@aolcom>
Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 06:20:30 +0100
Subject: Great Mystery Shopping In Your Area!!!

Hello Ma/Sir,
My name is David Cole, a representative of About Face Concepts Inc.,this is an awareness to let the public know that we have a vacancy position of a mystery shopper in our company.
There is no charge to become a shopper,there are many secret shopping companies out there that ask you to pay "a small fee" to become a shopper. Don't do it!
At About Face, you will never pay to shop! We pay you!
The assignment will pay $200 on every assignment,on a part time basis, you only work 2-3hours twice in a week.
Kindly send your details in the format below and email the requested information to andnorth@aol.com and we will get back to you with the assignment details.

Full Legal Name, Address, City, State, Zip code and Home and Cell #
Thanks.
David Cole
About Face Concepts Inc.

Anti-fraud resources: