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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: donald grant <donaldgrant.usarmy@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2022 12:53:43 -1200
Subject: Hello: Sir/ma



Please accept my sincere apology if my letter does not meet your
business or personal ethics.

My name is Donald Grant, a member of the Contract Review and Payment
Committee with Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation. I am in charge
of vetting and payment of executed contracts.

Most of these contracts awarded were deliberately over inflated to
accommodate our personal interest; the original contractors have been
paid leaving us with about $15M US Dollars which is now held in a special
bank account in one of our foreign reserve accounts for the payment of
completed contracts executed by foreign firms.

Since the original contractors have been paid long ago, I am looking
for a trustworthy overseas partner to stand in as the sub-contractor
to the executed project and make claim to this over-inflated amount
($15M US Dollars).

Please be very well aware that I alone cannot personally claim these
funds by myself because I require an outsider like you. I will only be
able to play my role as an insider, because without me, you cannot
also be able to claim the money all by yourself. Therefore, we need to
collaborate as partners. Upon a successful claim process, we shall
share the money between the two of us at a ratio of 30% for you and
70% for me.

If you are interested in this proposal I am making, you kindly
confirm by replying to my email or contact me through my telephone
number provided in this letter for more details.

I make this goodwill offer to you in good faith, and therefore expect
you to treat it as such please. If you agree to accept the offer and
work with me then we are surely going to reap the benefit of a good
partnership, however, if you are not interested, then please simply
discard this message and do not disclose it to any other third party.

Sincere regards,

Donald Grant

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