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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: "sunday eunha" <sirjohnson444@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: john_dele500@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2005 13:26:04 +0000
Subject: MUTUAL RELATIONSHIP/PLEASE GET BACK TO ME

FROM:ENGR DELE JOHN
RE: FOREIGN RECEIVERSHIP/BENEFICIARY
DEAR SIR OR MADAM:

MY PARTNERS AND I ARE ACTIVE MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS OF THE NIGERIAN
NATIONAL PETROLUEM CORPORATION.WE WOULD LIKE TO EMPLOY YOUR EFFORTS TO ACT
AS THE RECEIVER/BENEFICIARY OF A CONTRACT SUM WORTH $34M. THE MONEY LEGALLY
BELONGS TO US; BEING PROCEEDS FROM CONTRACT DEALS SECRETLY EXECUTED ON OUR
BEHALF OVER THE YEARS. OUR MASTERPLAN IS TO MAKE YOU THE CHIEF BENEFICIARY
OF THIS FUND BY WAY
OF ADVANCING YOU AS A CONTRACTOR TO WHOM THE CORPORATION IS INDEBTED, [TO
THE TUNE OF $34M.
THE BLUEPRINT IS100% TESTED AND WORKABLE TO THE LETTER. YOU WILL ONLY NEED
TO BE IN CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE APEX BANK [VIA TELEPHONE, E-MAIL, & FAX]
UNTIL THE MONEY IS REMITTED INTO ANY BANK ACCOUNT NORMINATED BY YOU.
WE HAVE AGREED TO OFFER YOU 10% ($3.4M) FOR YOUR KIND ASSISTANCE.
PLEASE GET BACK TO US FOR FULL DETAILS.
YOURS FAITHFULLY,
ENGR.DELE JOHN


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