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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: "Kate Carr Lee" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <carrlee.kate@yahoo.pt>
Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2015 15:24:13 -0500
Subject: Hello

I know you will be surprised to read my email.Am an american citizen, apart from being surprise you may be skeptical to reply me because based on what is happening on the internet world, one has to be very careful because a lot of scammers are out there to scam innocent citizens and this has made it very difficult for people to believe anything that comes through the internet but this is a different case.lf you are willing to show me your honesty and trust, I think I will be able to trust and work with you. I am an American and you should be rest assured that I cannot be involved in scam My name is Capt. Carr Kate Lee, a member of the U.S. ARMY medical team, Just deployed to Iraq Because of the ISIS Problem. I just discover two trunk of consignment boxes containing America $100 i know you must have been reading mail like this on the internet but i want you to understand that ,out of 100 one can be true. I have deposited two consignment boxes with a security company in Iraq
Also, could you get back to me having visited the above website to enable us discuss in a more clarifying manner to the best of your understanding. I must say that I'm very uncomfortable sending this message to you without knowing truly if you would misconstrue the importance and decides to go public. In this regards, I will not hold back to say that the essence of this message is strictly for mutual benefit between you and I and nothing more. I will be vivid and coherent in my next message in this regards, meanwhile, could you send me an email confirming that you have visited the site and that you have understood my intentions? I would like you to get back to me with with the following information's; 1. Full Name 2. Address 3.Occupation 4.Age 5. Your Telephone Number As soon as i received these information i will get back to you. I will await your reply via my email. Thanks,
Best Regards Capt.
Carr Kate Lee
 

Anti-fraud resources: