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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: "Dr.Tony Williams" <drtwillyms22@yahoo.co.in>
Date: Mon, 13 Jun 2005 18:17:15 +0100 (BST)
Subject: DEAR FRIEND:


FROM THE DESK OF DR ANTHONY WILLIAMS.
AUDITING DEPARTMENT.
BTCI.
LOME-TOGO.

Urgent Attention,

I have a proposal for you - this however is not mandatory nor will I in any manner compel you to honour against your will. I am 58, and work with a bank (one of the African leading banks in the West Coast). Here in this bank existed a dormant account for the past 6 years which belong to a national of your country who is now late.

When I discovered that there had been no deposits nor withdrawals from this account for this long period, I decided to carry out a system investigation and discovered that non of the family member nor relations of the late person is aware of this account.

This is the story in a nutshell.

Now I want an account overseas where the bank will transfer this funds.Thereafter, I had planned to destroy all related documents for this account. It is a careful network and for the past fifteen months I have worked out everything to ensure a hitch-free operation.

The amount is not so much at the moment and plus all the accumulated interest the balance in this account stands at-(US$ 8.2 million US dollars).

Now our questions are:-
1. Can you handle this project?
2. Can I give you this trust?
3. What will be your commission? If you can sponsor this transfer.

Consider this and get back to us as soon as possible.

Finally, it is our humble prayer that the information as contained herein be accorded the necessary attention, urgency as well as the secrecy it deserves.

I Expect your urgent response if you can handle this project.

Respectfully yours,
Dr Tony Williams.






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