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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.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Fraud email example:

From: "james collins" <jamezzcollinzz@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: jamezzcollinz_c@libero.it
Date: Sat, 17 Sep 2005 05:25:24 -0500
Subject: MAIL FROM MR JAMES COLLINS


DEAR MR/MA

CONFIDENTIAL

I KNOW THIS WILL COME TO YOU AS A SURPRISE BECAUSE YOU
DO NOT KNOW ME .I AM MR JAMES COLLINS, I WORK IN THE
CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA, PACKAGING AND COURIER
DEPARTMENT.

I GOT YOUR CONTACT IN MY SEARCH FOR A HONEST PERSON
THROUGH ONE OF MY COLLEAGUES HERE IN THE CENTRAL BANK WHO SAID THAT I CAN
CONFIDE IN YOU .I WANT YOU TO HELP ME CLEAR THIS PACKAGE THAT IS ALREADY IN
OVERSEAS WHICH I SHIPPED THROUGH OUR CBN ACCREDITED COURIER AGENT BUT THE
CONTENTS OF THE PACKAGE IS $20,000,000.00 ALL IN $100.00 BILLS, BUT THE
COURIER COMPANY DOES NOT KNOW THAT IT IS MONEY THAT I HAVE IN THE PACKAGE .

ALL I WANT YOU TO DO FOR ME NOW IS THIS GIVE ME

YOUR MAILING ADDRESS
YOUR PRIVATE PHONE AND FAX

AND I HOPE THAT AT THE END OF THE DAY , YOU WILL HAVE
30% AND 70% WILL BE FOR ME .MY IDENTITY MUST NOT BE
REVEALED TO ANYBODY. IF THIS ARRANGEMENT IS OKAY BY
YOU ,YOU CAN CALL E-MAIL ME AT jamezzcollinzz_c@libero.it, FOR SECURITY
REASONS

OTHER MODALITIES WILL BE DISCUSSED AS SOON AS YOU GET
BACK TO ME INCLUDING SENDING OF THE KEYS TO THE BOXES
TO YOU . NOTE: COMMUNICATION SHOULD BE STRICTLY
THROUGH E-MAIL FOR SECURITY REASONS.

YOURS FAITHFULLY,
MR JAMES COLLINS

IMMEDIATELY YOU RECEIVE THIS MAIL AND FEEL THAT YOU WILL ASSIST ME IN THIS
MATTER, SO THAT WE CAN DISCUSS ON HOW TO GET THE CONSIGNMENT OF MONEY
DELIEVER TO YOUR ADDRESS AND YOUR SINCERITY TOWARDS THIS MATTER.

REPLY ME ONLY ON MY PRIVATE EMAIL: jamezzcollinzz_c@libero.it


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