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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: "Arnold Barnes"<kruof2@tampabay.rr.com>
Reply-To: arnoldbarnes@norfolkairport.net
Date: 19 Oct 2019 08:42:36 +0100
Subject: Important message Your forgotten shipment

Your shipment was withheld due to the finding of an undisclosed
sum of money in the metal trunk-boxes. Actually, the contents
were not properly declared by the correspondent as CASH.It was
declared as hardware? just to avoid interrogation. For this
reason, the consignment was taken into custody by the airport
authorities while the shipment tag with your personal information
detail was the only clue I could use to communicate with you so
as to inform you of your abandoned shipment.

My name is Arnold Barnes, I work with the Norfolk International
Airport, Virginia as one of the Inspection Personnel. Luggage
and Packages. I discovered your shipment at the airport
warehouse. I advise you to quickly furnish me with your name,
home, and mobile phone numbers as well as your address, to enable
me to cross-check if it corresponds with the address on the
official documents. After which you will confirm to me the name
of the nearest airport around you to help me locate you when
bringing the shipment to you.

Please note, this consignment was supposed to have been taken to
the United States Treasury Department as abandoned and unclaimed
delivery but due to the period of time, the authorities mandated
for the owner to come forward and claim the cargo the shipment
has since been left abandoned. The reason I made up my mind, to
contact you personally about this abandoned cargo was that I want
us to transact this business and share the money 80% for you and
20% for me since the shipment has not yet been returned to the
United States Treasury Department

I would sincerely appreciate it if you can work with me as your
confidante and partner in helping you get your shipment to your
home as I would personally deliver the package to you as soon as
possible.I need you to trust me implicitly in this issue.
Contact me immediately via phone, text only 757 790 4282 and my
email ( arnoldbarnes@norfolkairport.net ) for further
instructions.

Thank you,

Arnold Barnes
Norfolk International Airport
VA 23518, Virginia, United States

Anti-fraud resources: