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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: "Joan Sheffield" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <jsheffield3424@execs.com>
Date: Fri, 19 Mar 2010 02:03:36 -0400
Subject: SERIOUS APPLICANTS NEEDED.RESPOND ASAP.

Hello, We are accepting applications from qualified individuals to become Paid Surveyors. We have an assignment in your area and we would like you to participate. Paid Survey is an internet based customer experience management agency. Our clientele includes businesses in many countries. We serve clients in every region and have a growing membership of about 20,000 members worldwide. We provide customer experience management services to our clients and businesses worldwide. By so doing our clients are able to serve their own end customers better. One of our tasks is to evaluate the quality of businesses and financial services in your area, businesses like Wal-Mart Western Union, Banks, Moneygram, Hospital, Restaurants, Hotels and other business franchise or financial services etc. This is done through your assistance as a Paid Surveyor. As a Paid Surveyor you get paid to conduct a Simple Survey and provide valuable Customer Service Feedback to us. Your feed back is used to prepare our evaluation which is then presented to our clients that is all. You will be required to visit businesses and franchise locations like stores, restaurants, banks, movie theaters, hotels and other businesses in your area as an 'undercover customer'. Your job is just to act like any regular customer and perform a normal business transaction while you conduct a simple survey and gather information about the quality of service by staff, behavior of staff and other issues at such locations. You will be given an assignment to perform which will deal with reported issues about businesses in your area and you will be asked to go as a undercover customer to such locations. During the assignment you will visit the locations and make several observations as regards the customer service. You will be required to interact with the shop clerk or staff. Please note; you are not spending your own money for any assignment. All funds required will be provided by our clients and sent to you to complete your assignment. You only need to perform your task successfully and give us feed back. Registration is FREE. Your payment will depend on the actual assignment you choose to undertake. You will be paid in full in advance to perform your assignment. The minimum pay is 200 dollars per survey and up to 500 dollars per survey assignment you undertake. Also on top of being paid you are also allowed to keep purchases made if any purchase was done by you during any assignment. If you are interested then kindly send us a response with your APPLICATION FORM Full Name: Full Address: (NO P.O.BOX ADDRESSES ALLOWED) City: State: Zip code: Home Phone Number: Cellphone Number: Age: Nationality: Marital Status: Occupation: , Email Address: For membership and join a growing network of about 20,000 members in the US, Canada, China, Asia, Europe, Middle East and Africa. I assure you that we will respect your privacy and your information is very well protected with the very best and robust encryption technology in the market place and very safe with us. Note; we reserve the right to decline any application for membership. Kindly send us an email with ALL the details requested above. Incomplete information will not be accepted. We will get back to you shortly with an assignment in your area. NOTE: IF this message is in your bulk/spam folder transfer to your in-box before you reply.. Note: Send your response to: (jsheffield3424@execs.com} Thank you for your time. We look forward to working with you. Sincerely, Joan Sheffield PAID SURVEY

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