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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: "AWELE EZE" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <upscouriernig@naij.com>
Date: Wed, 2 Aug 2017 05:23:39 -0700
Subject: <B><I>IN REGARD TO YOUR MASTER CREDIT CARD PACKAGE WITH&nbsp; US U.P.S</B></I></DIV>

IN REGARD TO YOUR MASTER CREDIT CARD PACKAGE WITH  US U.P.S
WE RECEIVED AN EMAIL ALERT FROM OUR UPS OFFICE IN YOUR COUNTRY  REGARDING
YOUR PACKAGE WHICH
HAVE BEEN WITH THEM FOR TWO WEEKS NOW AND THE INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING
AGENT IN CHARGE PLANNED TO RETURN YOUR PACKAGE TO THE FEDERAL MINISTRY
OF FINANCE OF NIGERIA. THE TOTAL AMOUNT YOUR MASTER CARD CONTAIN IS
$1.5 USD MILLION USD AND THIS INCLUDE INTEREST RATE UP TILL DATE.THE
MASTER CARD WAS PROGRAMMED TO HAVE ACCESS GLOBALLY WHICH YOU CAN MAKE
WITHDRAW OR TRANSACTION IN ANY PART OF THE WORLD.
IT SEEMS YOU DON'T WANT TO SHOW ANY SERIOUSNESS TOWARD THE SHIPMENT OF
YOUR PACKAGE THAT IS WHY THEY WANT TO RETURN IT AND THEY NEED PERMISSION
FROM
ME FIRST BEFORE THEY WILL RETURN THE PACKAGE. I ORDERED THEM TO STOP AND I
ALSO ASSURE THEM THAT I WILL MAKE SURE THE CHARGE
FEE REQUIRED TO ENABLE THE SHIPMENT WHICH IS $125 WILL BE PAID AND THIS
WILL BE THE LAST FEE REQUIRED.
IN REGARD TO YOUR MASTERCARD PACKAGE WHICH WORTH $1.5 USD MILLION
USD I WILL HELP YOU AND MAKE SURE YOU RECEIVE IT AND MY INVESTIGATION
SHOWS YOU HAVE SPENT A LOT RECENTLY IN REGARD TO THIS PACKAGE AND THIS
WILL BE THE LAST FEE.
REMEMBER YOU HAVE SPENT A LOT TOWARD THIS PACKAGE ONCE THE CHARGE FEE
REQUIRED NOW IS PAID SHIPMENT WILL COMMENCE AND YOU WILL RECOVER ALL
YOU HAVE SPENT RECENTLY. THE CHARGE FEE REQUIRED NOW IS NOT MUCH SO
YOU WILL BE ABLE TO AFFORD THE LAST FEE NEEDED WHICH IS $125 ONLY MY
ADVICE TO YOU IS TO GO AHEAD AND SEND THE CHARGE FEE VIA MONEYGRAM. THE
MONEYGRAM INFORMATION BELOW BELONGS TO THOMAS ABAYOMI.
OUR PAYMENT RECEIVING OFFICER:
RECEIVER NAME: THOMAS ABAYOMI.
LOCATION: LAGOS NIGERIA
TEXT QUESTION: OK
ANSWER:
OK
AMOUNT:$125
MTCN#
SURE SHIPMENT COMMENCE ONCE THE CHARGE FEE IS PAID. SENDER
NAME????MTCN NUMBER???FULL SENDER ADDRESS USED:???TEXT
QUESTION???ANSWER???? AWAIT YOUR REPLY AND REMEMBER SHIPMENT WILL
COMMENCE TODAY AND IT WILL TAKE ONLY 26 HOURS TO GET THE PACKAGE
SHIPPED TO YOU.
BEST REGARDS,
AWELE EZE

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