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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 Okuta" <jamesokuta_ca_cbn@msn.com>
Date: Fri, 04 Nov 2005 17:54:13 +0000
Subject: CONFIDENTIAL

CONFIDENTIAL

I KNOW THIS WILL COME TO YOU AS A SURPRISE BECAUSE YOU DO NOT KNOW ME .I AM
DR JAMES OKUTA, 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 EUROPE 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 E-MAIL BACK THROUGH jamesokuta_ca_cbn@yahoo.com

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 THROUGHE-MAIL FOR SECURITY REASONS.

YOURS FAITHFULLY,
DR JAMES OKUTA


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