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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: Douglas Chan <lconsult10@mail.com> (may be fake)
Date: Sat, 11 Jan 2014 13:19:32 +0100
Subject: RESPONSE NEEDED

I am Douglas Chan from Malaysia. Some years back,I invested some amount of money worth of $ 500,000.00 dollars on properties in (Ontario, Canada). I resold the house back with the help of a well known real estate agent company and now it is due for payment. I wanted the Due-funds transferred to my account by Swift, but the Investor said that they cannot transfer more than Five Thousand Dollars to any bank account outside North America / south America within one month (30 days). Meanwhile, I have tried to open an account with a Bank in united state, but i needed to be physically present to sign the mandate, I must confess that this is not possible now because i am medically down to make such a long distance trip, i will be undergoing a Bone Marrow TRANSPLANT in few weeks time, So, i was told to provide a contact in Canada or United States of America to receive the funds on my behalf. I am in need of your assistance on this matter, if you could help receive the funds and forwa! ! rd to me. Sincerely, you are not going to face any risk in rendering assistance. AND PLEASE TAKE NOTE THAT YOU ARE NOT SPENDING ANY MONEY ON THIS AND I WILL OFFER YOU 10% OF THE MONEY YOU RECEIVE. I am very honest and kind in heart, i keep to my words and i promise you will never be disappointed in anyway.

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