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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: james rufus <test@vox.com.py>
Reply-To: customer.care.0000000001@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 4 Nov 2019 00:27:15 -0000
Subject: Dear,



--
Dear,

I am Mr. James Rufus a solicitor at law. I am the personal attorney to Mr.
Nelson, ( Surname Withheld ) a national of your country, who used to work
with Shell - development company. Here in after shall be
referred to as my client.

On the 21st of April 2017, my client, his wife and their three children
were involved in a car accident along Sagbama Express Road. All occupants
of the vehicle unfortunately lost their lives. Since then I have made
several enquiries to your embassy to locate any of my clients extended
relatives but all efforts prove abortive.

After these several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to track his last
name over the Internet, to locate any member of his family hence I
contacted you after getting the name and your email address. I knew there
are countless number of people in the world bearing this same name I just
gave it a try.

I have contacted you to assist in repatriating the money and property left
behind by my client before they get confiscated or declared unserviceable
by the bank where this huge deposits were lodged.
The bank where the deceased had an account valued at about $3,500,000.00
(Three Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars) has issued me a notice to
provide the next of kin or have the account confiscated within the next
ten official working days. Since I have been unsuccessful in locating any
of the relatives for over 2 years I now seek your consent to present you
as the next of kin of the deceased since both of you share the same last
name so that the proceeds of the $3,500,000.00 can be paid to you and then
you and me can share the money. 60% for me while 40% for you. I have all
necessary legal documents to back up this claim. All I require is your
honest cooperation to enable us see this deal through.

Be assured that this deal will be executed under a legitimate arrangement
that will protect you from any breach of the law.

Please get in touch with me quickly.

Regards,
Hon. Barrister- James Rufus




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