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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: Thomas Moore <moorethomas309@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 5 Nov 2021 23:16:39 -1200
Subject: DEAR FRIEND


Greeting my good friend. I know time is something you cannot buy or borrow,
but I’d like to steal a minute of your time to tell you about my urgent
business proposal which I believe will interest you. Firstly I'll start by
telling you a little about myself. I'm Captain Sir Thomas Nelson from the
United States. I'm a widower, I lost my wife 3 years ago in a gas accident.
I'm a ship captain, I work with Maersk shipping company. I'm contacting you
for assistance in which you will earn 30% out of the total fund involved.
It is an issue of money which I got on the contract I did in Kuwait,
Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. I want you to understand that I packaged
the sum of 9,000,000 usd (Nine million United State dollars) on a metal
trunk box before depositing the box with the security company in the United
State. I received an email from the security company that they want to
change the management of their company, that all their foreign investors
should come over and claim back whatever he/she deposited with their
company or will lose it in 30 days time, it is now left with 7 days to
claim back the box or I'll lose the box. I can't afford to lose the fund
box because it contained a huge amount, that is the reason why I decided to
search for your email address on google search where I saw your email
address and decided to contact you. I don't have a family, the only family
I have is my 14 years old son who I kept under the care of his teacher in a
school in London, he is too young and can't receive the box while he is
under the care of his teacher in school. My good friend, I have made
arrangements with a United nation diplomat who promised to deliver the fund
box to any destination of my choice, that means it will be handed over to
you at your provided address. I will be compensating you with 30% of the
total fund in the final conclusion of this project which is 2.7 million
United States dollar, while the remaining balance shall be my investment
capital in your country. One passionate appeal I would like you to make for
me is not to discuss this transaction to a third party, if you have any
reasons to reject this offer, please destroy this mail as any leakage of
this information will be very bad for me because of my position as a ship
captain. I chose to contact you after my prayers and I believe you will not
betray my confidence, but rather take me as your brother. Although you may
wonder why I am so soon revealing myself to you without knowing you well,
I'll say that my heart is convinced that you're a real person to help me
receive and invest the fund. I'll be migrating to your country to invest
and start a new life not as a ship captain as soon as I complete my
contract in two months' time because it is a risky job. Conclusively, I
wish you to send me a reply as soon as you receive this proposal. Your
urgent response will be highly appreciated. I hope my explanation is very
clear, but if you need further clarification, please send your questions. I
expect to hear from you soon.

Regards,
Cap.Thomas Nelson

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