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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: (sent from abused email account)
Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2008 11:51:02 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: URGENT PROJECT



Dear,=20
=A0
I got your contact during my search for a reliable, honest and a trustworth=
y person to entrust this bussiness project with.=20

=A0
It is my pleasure to bring to your notice a fruitful bussiness relationship=
.. There is 250kg of pure raw GOLD dust of 22 carrat+, as the quality of the=
GOLD in my position and i want you to find a GOLD smith who can buy it ver=
y cheap price,10% comission is yours if you found one. Pls get back with yo=
ur full address. Regards. Dr.=20
=A0
Dr. Micheal Sam.
Accra Ghana.West Africa=20
=0A=0A__________________________________________________=0ADo You Yahoo!?=
=0ATired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around =0Ahttp:=
//mail.yahoo.com

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