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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: rick weimen <weimenr@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: rick weimen <weimennr@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 7 Jan 2014 00:01:06 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Troubles in UK.....Please get back to me ASAP


Good morning,
   I Hope you get this on time. I'm very sorry to bother you with my
troubles but I'm in some terrible situation right now and need your
urgent help, I know I didn't mention anything about it to you but we are
in trouble right now. I'm stranded in Glasgow, UK and need your help
getting back home. I made a trip down here this past weekend but
unfortunately for me, I was robbed at gunpoint at a taxi park.
Everything I had on me including my phone, credit cards were all stolen,
It was a terrible experience to go through but looking on the bright
side, I wasn't seriously hurt or injured and I'm still alive which is
the most important thing. The good thing is that I still have my
passport but I just don't have enough money to sort my hotel bills and
travel back home. Unfortunately for me, I can't have access to funds
without my credit card since the robbers have my card now, I've made
contact with my bank to block my cards but it would take atleast a week
to get a new one to me, I also made a report at the nearest police
station. I've been to the embassy and they are helping me with my
documentation so i can fly out.

Please I would really appreciate if you could help me out here. I was
wondering if you could help me with a quick Loan and I promise to refund
you as I get back in two days time. All I really need is about $2,550
but if the whole amount can't be covered, I would gladly appreciate any
amount you can put in to help. Western union is the best way to get the
funds to me. Please kindly let me know if this is possible so that I can
provide my wiring details needed to make the transfer. Looking forward
to hearing from you, I will check my email every 30 minutes for your
reply because it's the only way i can reach you.
 
Thank you

 
Ricardo Weimen
Director
Exclusive Designer Fabrics
No 5 De Fonseka Road
Colombo 5
Srilanka.
DDecor

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