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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: Sisiokwute Otemulagim <sisiokwute44@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 11:21:58 -0400
Subject: REQUEST FOR ASSISTANT

HI,

I am sorry to bother you at this time but the circumstances
surrounding me are beyond me. My belief in the universal brotherhood
of man has prompted me to take a leap of faith to trust you without
knowing you personally. My name is Sisiokwute Otemulagim from a royal
tribe in Swaziland, South Africa and I got your address through a
people search here on the internet. I returned home for my summer
vacation from the University of Ghana in West Africa where I attend
school and met with rude shock, the gruesome murder of my parents and
my only sister in the recent kingship tussle in my tribe. Now, I am
stuck here with my dangerous uncles who are trying to take my
inheritance from me. Can you help me? I am planning to go back to
Ghana soon but I need you to help me process my father’s money which
he deposited overseas. I want you to stand as my next of kin so we can
claim the money. I have all the documents and will also want to
relocate to your country to begin a new life. Please let me know if
you can help me so we can begin the process.

Sincerely,
S. Otemulagim,

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