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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: Bill Betterman <nias@webs.com>
Reply-To: Bill Betterman <bb.betterman@yahoo.com>
Date: 22 Apr 2022 04:04:21 -0700
Subject: Re: Hello

Dear Friend,

As you very well know, Ukraine is in turmoil from Russia invasion. I am Bill Betterman from the hospitality state (Mississippi), an army contractor attached to the US Military force, we have been secretly dispatched here for the sole purpose of Reconstruction works in some parts of Ukraine. I evaluate the level of destruction and offer professional advice inline with the way they intend rebuilding. With no doubt, work has been risky and challenging as we sometimes collide head on with Russian troop and loose some soldiers during confrontations.

On the early hours of 5th April 2022 I lost a friend whom I had known for 12years during one of these confrontations. It was a very sad day but at about 1100hrs during a normal inspection routine along Bucha Street, I, along side with 2 soldiers proceeded to a marked site and as I commenced evaluation under close guard by the 2 soldiers, I discovered an unusual bulge in a cellar, which I presumed to be storage room and as I proceeded to have a closer look at it, I kicked a metal covering and found several metal boxes (6 in number) Piled on top of each other and locked with a padlock. On forcing the boxes open, we discovered several armored weapons including bullets. One of the boxes was filled with hard drugs (heroine) and two to my amazement was filled with money. On discovery of this money, I and the soldiers for hours counted bundles of the currencies which amounted to about $5.5M. I believe however that all these belongs to the invading troop, the money used in sponsoring the war, and because of this reason, I instructed the soldiers with me to handover all the boxes containing the drugs and amours to our superiors in the army and agreed to keep the funds to ourselves, so as to help establish ourselves when we return from Ukraine. Presently, we have the money hidden in a safe and untraceable location only known to us.

Why I am explaining all our findings to you is to seek for your assistance and immense contribution to the actualization of our dream of getting these funds out from here. We are in desperate need of a reliable and trustworthy person who will receive, secure and protect these boxes containing the money for us until our assignment ends here. Since Ukraine is getting unsafe and more dangerous everyday, we cannot afford to leave these boxes here in Ukraine for any reason and knowing fully well that these were funds used in sponsoring evil attacks on our innocent humans. We have no idea what could happen next. This is a true story of what we came across here in Ukraine. I intend to include my ID's issued by the US army and government for you to know better whom you are dealing with but I will include that in my next email to you. I assure and promise to give you 20% of this funds before sharing with the other 2 soldiers when we leave this place. Please assure me of your keeping this top most secret so that my job would not be jeopardized.

My Sincere Regards,
Bill Betterman.

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