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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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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "david" <ricohcompany123@myway.com>
Date: Fri, 23 Jun 2006 07:07:53 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Top of the day


Hello VICTIMNAME,

How are you today?

I am in receipt of your mail and will want to assure you that you do not have any cause for worries as we are a legitimate company and as such will want to look forward to a good working relationship with you.

We will however want you to provide us with the following details so we can forge ahead.

Name: Address: Sex: Phone: Fax: Company Name(optional): Official Photographic Identification: Hope to hear from you soon so that we can instruct you on the next step to take in this regard. RegardsLee WangP.R.O CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message.

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