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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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Fraud email example:

From: =?iso-8859-1?q?williams=20mmadu?= <williamsmmadu@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2004 08:38:27 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: urgent reply call me with this number 234 8037109135



DEAR SIR,
I AM THE MANAGER OF UNITED BANK OF AFRICA PLC IN NIGERIA AND I WILL WANT
TO DO A QUICK BUSINESS WITH YOU.

THERE IS A DORMANT ACCOUNT IN MY BANK WITH A CREDIT BALANCE OF US$60
MILLION, WHICH HAS BEEN DORMANT FOR FIVE YEARS NOW, ON FURTHER INVESTIGATION,
I DISCOVERED THAT THE OWNER OF THE ACCOUNT, A FOREIGNER DIED ALSO FIVE
YEARS AGO.

WHAT I NEED FROM YOU IS TO USE YOUR NAME AS THE NEXT OF KIN AND I WILL
USE MY POSITION AS THE BANK MANAGER AND TRANSFER THE SIXTY MILLION DOLLARS
TO YOUR ACCOUNT.

L WILL SUPPLY YOU WITH ALL THE NECESSARY INFORMATION TO THE ACCOUNT THAT
YOU WILL PRESENT TO THE BANK BY FAX. AFTER THE SUCCESSFUL REMITTANCE
OF THE FUND INTO YOUR, I WILL DESTROY ALL THE DOCUMENTS INVOLVED, INCLUDING
THE COMPUTER DISKETTES. BOTH OF US WILL SHARE THE MONEY ON A 25-75 RATIO.

INDICATE YOUR INTEREST SO THAT I WILL GIVE YOU DETAILED INFORMATION ON
THIS ISSUE.

NOTE; THAT THE 25% IS FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE
.
THERE IS NO RISK INVOLVED.

YOURS SINCERELY,
MR. WLLIAMS MMADU




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