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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: "mohammed abacha" <mohammed_abacha3@hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 14 Jun 2005 03:52:12 +0100
Subject: URGENT ASSISTANCE

From:Mr Mohammed Abacha
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/2492425.stm

Dear Armato,
I am the eldest son of the late president of Nigeria, General Sani
Abacha. I was
falsely accused of murder and as such was imprisoned, but thanks to
God, I have
been released for my innocence. Well dear friend I need your
assistance in
transferring some of my money into your account, because the
government is
making plans to seize them as they did to my fathers own.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/2492425.stm
The amount is $25million(Twenty five million united states dollars)
in a
Security Abroad. All that is needed is for me to instruct the company
to
transfer the funds to your account, I will remunerate you with 30% of
the total
funds transferred to your vital bank account as compensation for your
assistance.
Looking forward to doing business with you.

Thanks for your cooperation.

Best Regard.

Mohammed.

_________________________________________________________________
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