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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: Richard Wood <richardwood4040@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2022 14:57:26 -0800
Subject: NEXT OF KIN TREAT URGENT

Dear Sir/Madam

Compliments of the season

I am the Branch manager of the above mentioned Bank.In my bank i discovered
an abandoned sum of $15.5Million USD(Fifteen Million,Five Hundred Thousand
U.S.dollars only) in an account that belongs to one of our foreign
customer, by name, Mr. Bob Robert Chapman, African area director for
UNICEF, who died along with his wife, Ruth Chapman, in January 2020 as a
result of Covid 19.

Since we got information about his death, we have been expecting his next
of kin to come over and claim his money because we can not release it
unless somebody applies for it as next of kin or relation to the deceased
as indicated in our banking guidelines.

It is therefore upon this discovery that I decided to make business with
you and release the money to you as the next of kin or relation of the
deceased for safety and subsequent disbursement. It is agreed that a
certain percentage of this money will be for you as my foreign partner.

Upon receipt of your reply I will send to you the text of the application.
Thereafter I will visit your country for disbursement according to the
percentage agreed.

Yours faithfully
Richard wood

4

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