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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: musa yakubu <musay31@hotmail.fr>
Reply-To: <musayakubu@myway.com>
Date: Mon, 11 Jun 2007 09:33:10 +0000
Subject: URGENT REPLY.


FOR YOUR KIND ATTENTION.COULD YOU PLEASE CONSIDER TO HELP ME TO RELOCATE THIS SUM OF FIVE MILLION,THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS(US$5.3m) TO YOUR COUNTRY FOR ESTABLISHING A MEDIUM SIZE INDUSTRY IN YOUR COUNTRY. THE SAID 5.3 MILLION DOLLARS WAS DEPOSITED IN OUR BANK BY MRS JOYCE LAKE AN AMERICA CITIZEN WHO DIED IN A PLANE CRASH IN 2000.WE HAVE TRIED TO CONTACT HIS IMMEDIATE FAMILY TO COME FORWARD FOR CLAIMS BUT COULD NOT SUCCEED.WE DISCORVERED THAT THE LATE AMERICAN DIED ALONG SIDE WITH HER HUSBAND AND CHILDREN WHO ARE SUPPOSED TO BE HER NEXT OF KIN. CLICKHERE(http://www.cnn.com/2000/US/02/01/alaska.airlines.list/). I WILL GIVE YOU ALL VITAL INFORMATION CONCERNING THE AMERICAN AND THE 5.3MILLION DOLLARS IN OUR CUSTODY SO THAT YOU WILL CONTACT OUR BANK FOR THEM TO RELEASE THE MONEY TO YOU. YOU CAN COME HERE IN PERSON OR YOU CAN REQUEST THE BANK TO SHIP THE FUNDS TO YOU IN YOUR COUNTRY DIPLOMATICALY.I AM A MANAGER IN THIS BANK,I WILL PLAY A ROLE TO MAKE SURE THAT THE 5.3 MILLION DOLLARS IS RELEASED TO YOU.AS SOON AS I RECIEVE YOUR REPLY,I WILL GIVE YOU A DRAFT APPLICATION WHICH YOU WILL FORWARD TO OUR BANK.REPLY AND LET ME KNOW YOUR FULLNAME,AGE,ADDRESS,OCCUPATION,YOUR TELEPHONE AND FAX NUMBERS IF AVALIABLE. I AWAIT YOUR URGENT REPLY. MR MUSA YAKUBU.
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