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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: "Captain John Guy" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <sgtjohnguy101@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 2 Oct 2010 18:48:05 +0200
Subject: CAN I TRUST YOU?

Hello,
l am capt.John Guy, from the Engineering unit here in Ba'qubah Iraq for the United States. I
 
am presently in Iraq. I want to move the sum of 20 million USD (Twenty Million USD) to the
 
States or any safe country, as far as I can be assured that it will be safe in your care
 
until I complete my service here next year. This is no stolen money and there are no dangers
 
involved. It was discovered and concealed in a barrels with piles of weapons and ammunition
 
at a location near Saddam Hussein's old Presidential Palaces during a rescue operation and
 
it was agreed by all party present to have the funds. You might see this as an illegal or
 
scam due to the volume of internet scam these days, but I tell you what? No compensation can
 
make up for the risks we have taken with our lives in this hell hole here. I was able to get
 
the package out to a safe location entirely. No one knows the real contents of the package
 
as believed that it belongs to an American who died in an air raid.
I have the authority of my partners involved to ask if you will be willing to assist us in
 
this transaction, your share of the sum  will be 30%, be rest assure that this business is
 
100% safe on your part provided you treat it with utmost secrecy and confidentiality.
No strings attached, just help us move it out of Iraq, for Iraq is a war zone. You will only
 
help the diplomat to get the yellow tag paper as soon as they arrive in your airport.
If you are interested I will send you the full details, kindly send me an e-mail signifying
 
your interest in this email box for security reason.
Regard.
 
capt.John Guy
 

Anti-fraud resources: