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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: michael Duffs <michaelduffs@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 3 Mar 2011 15:05:05 -0800
Subject: EXPEDIENT!!!

Hi,

I need a committed personnel,who will be ready to receive a consignment of
40kilograms of Gold Bars for outward sale in his or her location,where the
both parties share the proceeds.The commodity was confisticated by my
department at the airport{Ghana Customs} and has been unclaimed for 5years.


A circular have been passed to return such commodities to the treasury by
the end of this month,hence the reason for this letter.What i will do is to
present you as the owner of the commodities.I will furnish you with the
necessary paperwork to process the change of ownership certifcate.Once this
is achieved,the commodity will be shipped to your location,where you sale
and we share the proceeds.You don't need to be a gold merchant to do
this,you search for prospective buyers online at the London Brent.


Let me know what you think and we can open communications.Consider this
expedient!

Thank you.


Sincerely,
Michael Duffs.

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