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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: "Sara Lee" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <saralee2001s@aol.com>
Date: Tue, 19 Apr 2011 15:24:15 +0100
Subject: [GSN Suspected Spam] hi, did you authorize this Mr. Sweicco?

Hello and good day,
This is my umpteenth e-letter to you without any response. Please reply this time around because
this mail requires your urgent action and it is devoid of any fraudulent or nefarious intent and
you should count yourself lucky that you have finally found succor in this letter.
Firstly, Kindly confirm if you gave consent to a certain Mr. WALTER SWISCCO, an American
business-man to have your secret inheritance entitlement from your late benefactor wired to his Bank of America (B.O.A)
account as stated below:
Bank Name: Bank of America
Bank Address: North Nova Road, Ormond Beach, Florida 32174.
Swift code: BOFAUS6S
Routing No: 026-009-593
Account Number: 898002364671
Account Name: W-Swissco Imports.
If you did not give him consent, then your rebuttal should be strong worded in
your reply to enable me file a disclaimer in the probate registry.
Meanwhile, Our attention has been drawn to the prolonged delays in effecting
the release of your entitlements.
The delays was caused by a number of unwholesome, unorthodox and unacceptable
reasons ranging from unnecessary mundane charges such as cost of transfer
(C.O.T),courier service charge, payment for ATM cards, Tax, verifications and
documentations as well as other minor charges. Be informed that the first
installment of your entitlement is now ready to be paid to you hence the
jostling by some crooks using Mr W. SWICCO as the arrow-head to have the
funds diverted to the B.O.A account. Your full co-operation at this crucial
stage is pivotal to the release of your funds.
Due to the global economic meltdown, there's no better time than now to effect
payment of your entitlement to you in-order to mitigate the economic hardship
you may be experiencing at the moment. Consequently, I urge you to send the
following information to enable me re-confirm the status of your entitlement
and to handle the transaction in a more professional manner viz:
i) your age and marital status, ii) current residential address, cell and land
phone numbers, iii) your full names and the name of your former
representatives, if any.
Be informed herewith that your entitlement will be paid to you from an
accredited bank in Spain or from a bank in the U.S.A.
 
I await your swift response.
Sincerely,
Ms. Sara Lee
 
private email :  sara.lee501@rediffmail.com

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