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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 Tom Cowell <support@ilanur.com>
Reply-To: tom13.enerjisa@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 6 Oct 2021 22:36:54 +0000
Subject: Business Investment/Project

Hello Sir/Madam,

I am Tom Cowell, the Special Assistant to the chargé D'Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul Mr. Ross Wilson, who has been tested positive for the coronavirus. I am contacting you because I am in desperate search for a reliable individual, I can trust to receive the sum of $50 Million USD. I have managed to move the funds through a private diplomatic agency, attached to the US team who came to assist in evacuating we foreign diplomats and our properties out of Afghanistan. The fund was abandoned by President Ashraf Ghani while he fled the country, and Mr. Ross Wilson has instructed me to help him handle this fund for a 40% commission.

I seek your sincere assistance to take possession of these funds. I've resolved to share this 40% commission between you and I in the ratio of 60%:40%. I will keep 60% as the initiator, and you can keep 40% for your participation. Kindly let me know if we can work together, so that I can give you further information on the way forward.

You must assure me of absolute confidentiality throughout this process, as we are trying to handle this in the most classified way possible. Get back to me if you think we can work together to achieve this goal. I can guarantee that there will be so much more coming, if we succeed in this first assignment.

Thank you so much and I expect your prompt and positive response.

Regards,

Mr Tom Cowell

Anti-fraud resources: