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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: "Miss Megan Moore" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <misssctyn@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2014 07:05:03 -0500
Subject: THE TRUTH ABOUT YOUR UNPAID FUND

Hello Dear,
My Name is Miss Megan Moore, 28 years old, a citizen of Ghana. I am a
computer analyst currently working with Central Bank of Nigeria. I
just started working with Central Bank of Nigeria. (C.B.N.) My Dear, I
came across your payment file which was Marked X and your Fund Release
Hard Disk Painted Red, I took my time to study your payment file and
found out that you have really attempted to receive the funds without
success till now.
The most annoying thing is that the directors and top officials of
this nation could not tell you the truth that on no account will they
ever release the fund to you; instead they will let you spend money
unnecessarily.
I swear with my life, I can release this funds to you if you can
certify me of my security and how I can run away from this country to
meet with you. This is like a Mafia Setting here,  if I do this for
you, I do not intend to work here all the days of my life and I cannot
run back to Ghana as this Bank have my home address in Ghana, and if I
don't run away after I making the transfer to your bank account, I may
be in trouble or my life will be in danger.
The only thing I will need to release this fund is a Special Hard
Disk, we call it HD120 GIG. I will buy two of it, recopy your
information, destroy the previous one, and punch the computer to make
the fund reflect in your bank account within 24 banking hours. I will
clean up the tracer and destroy your file, after which I will run away
from here to meet with you in your country if you are interested. But
you must assure me the absolute confidentiality of this deal before I
can do anything further.
Do get in touch with me immediately you can call me on this line +2348129031918
Regards,
Miss Megan Moore
Computer Analyst
Central Bank of Nigeria
 

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