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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: Charles Christopher <webfile10@zing.vn>
Reply-To: webfile10@zing.vn mail.zing.vn
Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2012 11:23:27 -0600
Subject: From The Presidency



From The Presidency,
Office of the Pay-master General,
Aso Rock Villa,
Abuja-Nigeria.

Sir/Madam,

It is my pleasure to introduce myself to you, and inform you about a development
or program which you are one of the principal beneficiaries. It might interest
you to know that the government of Nigeria has approved a specified large amount
of money to compensate listed known fraud or scam victims, as recorded by the
criminal investigation and prosecution department. Please be informed that you
are entitled to $4.7 million dollars as your compensation from this approved
amount, as one of the listed scam victims. And it is with apologies that you
will be paid your entitlement through Automatic Teller Machine (ATM Master
Card), as you reply this message reconfirming your personal date. Note that you
can draw from your Automatic Teller Machine (ATM Master Card) anywhere in the
world, according to your convenience.

I shall wait for your earliest reply via webfile10@zing.vn mail.zing.vn

Your Faithfully


Charles Christopher.
Office of the Pay-master General

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