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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: "Mr. Salim Zaid" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <salim_zaid948@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2018 01:09:31 -0700
Subject: can you handle this on trust??

Attn:

I am Mr. Salim Zaid, Syria / English citizen and Principal assurance
manager in one of reputable banks in Europe. Mr. Mohammed Raji a
staff of Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Company got in touch with me on an
investment which was placed under our banks management some years ago.I
would respectfully request that you keep the contents of this mail
confidential and respect the integrity of the information you come by as a
result of this mail. I contact you independently of our investigation and
no one is informed of this communication. I would like to intimate you
with certain facts that I believe would be of interest to you. In 2010,
the subject matter;

Mr. Mohammed Raji came to our bank to engage in business discussions with
our private banking division. He informed us that he had a financial
portfolio of $75, 000, 000, 00 (Seventy-Five Million United States dollars),
which he wished to have us turn over (invest) on his behalf. I was the
officer assigned to his case; I made numerous suggestions in line with my
duties as the de-facto chief operations officer, especially given the
volume of funds he wished to put into our bank.We met on numerous
occasions prior to any investments being placed.

I will send you a copy of my identity after I have your full consent. This is the one
truth I have learned from my private banking clients. Do not betray my confidence.
If we can be of one accord, I await your response.

Best Regards
Salim Zaid.


Anti-fraud resources: