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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: janet carmichael <jancarma@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: janet carmichael <jancarma@gmx.com>
Date: Wed, 5 Feb 2014 05:19:31 -0800 (PST)
Subject: I NEED YOUR ASSISTANCE (Janet Carmichael)


Hello,

I do hope this quick email finds you well, I am in need of some urgent assistance, I made an unannounced vacation trip to Manila, Philippines, everything was going fine until last night when we got mugged on our way back to the hotel,all cash, credit cards and our mobile phones were stolen at gun point. It was such a horrible experience for us,luckily we had left our passports in the safe at the hotel.

I have been to the Police and they directed me to the embassy but they're not helping issues at all and i have canceled all our cards, it appeared I acted quickly enough or they almost would have succeeded in clearing out my bank account, I need some money so I can pay for our hotel bills and then fly home, wondering if you can loan me $1,950 USD? i will make the refund as soon as i get home.Send me an email back, I have internet access from the lobby in the hotel. I'm sorry to bother you, I just didn't know how else to contact everyone quickly.

Please let me know if you can help me out?

 Janet Carmichael

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