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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: "UNITED NATIONS ORG" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <infouno@katamail.com>
Date: Tue, 2 Jun 2009 16:15:34 +0100
Subject: MAKE URGENT CONTACT



ATTENTION: CA "A" BENEFICIARY.

WE WISH TO NOTIFY YOU THAT WE HAVE RECEIVED A CREDIT DIRECTIVES FROM OUR CORRESPONDING BANK HERE IN London, England, CitiGroup TO PAY YOU YOUR INHERITANCE/CONTRACT INTEREST FUND.

THE WORLDBANK BOARD OF DIRECTORS HAS CONCLUDED TO EFFECT YOUR PAYMENT, REGARDS TO THE ENDORSMENT OF YOUR PAYMENT CERTIFICATE RECEIVED FROM THE CitiGroup, YOU ARE ADVISED TO CONTACT THIS BANK WITH YOUR FULL INFORMATION TO ENABLE US CROSS CHECK WITH THE INFORMATION SENT TO US FROM OUR CORRESPONDINGBANK CitiGroup, TO CONFIRM IF YOU ARE THE AUTHORIZED BENEFICIARY OF THE FUND. WITH THE ONE FORWARDED TO US BY THE CitiGroup.

1) YOUR FULL NAMES...
2) YOUR ADRESS WHERE THE FUND WILL BE DELIVERED...
3) YOUR DIRECT TELEPHONE NUMBER...
4) YOUR FORM OF IDENTIFICATION...
5) YOUR OCCUPATION AND AGE...

UPON THE RECEIPT OF YOUR URGENT RESPOND, THE CITIBANK PLC WILL PROCEED FOR IMMEDIATE PAYMENT OF YOUR FUND AS SOON AS WE RECEIVE THE REQUIRED INFORMATION FOR PROPER CONFIRMATION OF YOUR PAYMENT.
CONTACT E-MAIL ADDRESS IS : infouno@katamail.com

PLEASE KINDLY CONTACT THIS OFFICE AS A MATTER OF URGENCY
YOURS TRULY,

DR. BRIAN WRIGHT
PAYMENT DIRECTOR
UNITED NATIONS PRO

Anti-fraud resources: