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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: "Sgt. Karl King" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <sgt.karlking@yahoo.hk>
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2014 18:08:37 +0100
Subject: GOOD WILL!

I am Sgt. Karl King, an officer in the US Army, serving in the military with the Army's 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment based in Baghdad/Iraq in the beginning of the war in 2003.

I am presently, assigned to the 3rd/401st Army Field Support Afghanistan at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan.

I found your profile through a credible source, and it interest me to add you as my friend. I hope I did not offend you by requesting you to be my friend with a very desperate need for assistance.

Anti-fraud resources: