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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 Brown <michaelbrown2000000@yahoo.com>
Date: Sun, 23 Feb 2014 11:48:28 +0800 (SGT)
Subject: REPLY


Hello Dear,
How are you doing ? I hope all is well.I am Michael Brown from Malaysia and i am a managing partner of a bank in Malaysia .I saw your contact during my private search and I have a deep believe that you will be very honest, committed and capable of assisting me in this business venture.
It is based on this that I am contacting you to stand as the beneficiary to a late client of the bank so that the total sum of £15,000,000.00 (Fifteen Million pounds) will be released and paid to you as the beneficiary to the deceased.
At the end of this transaction you shall have 40% of the total inheritance and i shall take 60%
I will provide you with all the necessary information, documents and proof to legally back up the claim for the smooth transfer of the fund to any of your accounts as the true beneficiary. If this proposal satisfies you, please get back to me with the following information:

FULL NAMES:......................................................
EMAIL:.................................................................
PHONE NUMBER:...............................................
ADDRESS:...........................................................
AGE / SEX:...........................................................
OCCUPATION:......................................................

I anticipate your urgent response to enable us proceed .
Yours Faithfully,
Michael Brown.

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