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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: ben jack <benjacklife5@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2006 21:37:39 +0100 (BST)
Subject: hello


I LIVE IN TOGO, IN WEST AFRICA. I AM 51 YEARS OLD AND I HAVE BEEN WORKING IN A BANK IN TOGO FOR THE PAST 17 YEARS WHERE I AM PRESENTLY AN ACCOUNTS MANAGER.
I WILL GIVE YOU MY FULL DETAILS ON YOUR REPLY TO THIS
LETTER. MY AIM OF CONTACTING YOU IS TO SOLICIT YOUR
CO-OPERATION AND ASSISTANCE BASED ON ONE OF THE ACCOUNTS UNDER MY MANAGEMENT CONTAINING $18.5MILLION (EIGHTEEN MILLION & FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS) WHICH HAS REMAINED DORMANT FOR THE LAST TWELVE YEARS. THIS ACCOUNT WAS OWNED BY ONE OF OUR LATE CLIENT AND FOLLOWING MY INVESTIGATION,
I FOUND OUT THAT SHE DIED ON MAY 1992 VIA A CAR CRASH IN THE
BE-MARKET AND SHE LEFT NO CHILDREN OR NEXT OF KIN.

I WILL INFORM YOU MORE ON HOW WE CAN GET THE MONEY IN
HER ACCOUNT TRANSFERRED INTO YOUR ACCOUNT IF YOU AGREE
TO CO-OPERATE WITH ME ON THIS ON YOUR REPLY TO THIS
MAIL.
I WILL ALSO GIVE YOU MORE PERSONAL DETAILS OF ME AND
THE TRANSACTION ON YOUR REPLY.

PLEASE TREAT THIS AS CONFIDENTIAL, URGENT AND OF
UTMOST IMPORTANCE



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