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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.

 

 

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

Fraud email example:

From: "Dino Makeba" <d_makeba77@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: makeba@innoport.com
Date: Fri, 23 Jun 2006 09:44:53 +0000
Subject: Dear VICTIMNAME - The Transaction - Respond Urgently

DEAR VICTIM-FULLNAME,

COMPLIMENTS OF THE DAY TO YOU MY GOOD FRIEND.

THIS IS TO INFORM YOU THAT THE FUND HAS BEEN SECURED IN A BANK FOR NOW. ALL
THAT IS REQUIRED OF YOU IS TO PROVIDE THE FOLLOWING;

1. YOUR FULL NAME AND ADDRESS
2. YOUR CONTACT PHONE AND FAX NUMBERS
3. YOUR BANK FULL NAME AND ADDRESS
4. ACCOUNT NUMBER AND OTHER RELEVANT BANK CORDINATES

NOTE THAT THE ABOVE WILL BE ESSENTIAL FOR THE ACQUISITION OF APPROVAL
DOCUMENTS IN YOUR NAME. ALSO NOTE THAT A CERTIFICATE OF CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP
WILL ALSO BE OBTAINED IN YOUR NAME. THIS CERTIFICATE WILL MAKE YOU THE BONA
FIDE BENEFICIARY OF THE FUND.

I ANTICIPATE YOUR IMMEDIATE RESPONSE TO ENABLE US PRECEDE FURTHER AND GET
THIS FUND REMITTED IN YOUR NAME WITHOUT FURTHER DELAY.

BEST REGARDS,

DINO

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Anti-fraud resources: