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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: "TIM ALAIN" <timmex30@yahoo.com> (may be fake)
Date: Wed, 6 Jul 2005 15:37:20 -0700
Subject: CONTACT ME

HELLO,
MY NAME IS TIM ALAIN. NIGERIAN AM RECIDING IN MALAYSIA. I JUST CAME ACROSS YOUR MAIL ADDRESS WHERE YOU SOUGHT FOR A PEN PAL/FRIEND. I WOULD LIKE US TO BE ONE IF YOU WOULD NOT MIND. I AM PRESENTLY IN MALAYSIA TRYING TO GET SOMETHING DOING AS I JUST CAME FEW DAYS AGO.
I AM BLACK IN COMPLEXION(NOT WHITE), ABOUT 5.6FT AVERAGE. I PLAY FOOTBALL AND LIKE ALSO MEET NEW FRIEND IN , OUT SIDE AND AROUND MALAYSIA.
I DO HOPE YOU WILL CONSIDER ME TO BE YOUR FRIEND. I ALSO HOPE TO HERE FROM YOU SOON.BYE.
TIM ALAIN




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