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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 HAN HARLAN" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrhanharlan@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2024 13:27:06 +0100
Subject: =?UTF-8?B?W1NwYW0tTWFpbF0gUmUgOiBDYW4gSSBUcnVzdCBZb3UgPw==?=

Greetings Sir / Ma

I am Mr Han Harlan, I work with a Bank here in CHINA as head of the audit department. During our fiscal bank general account auditing, I discovered an overdue funds sum of $18,300,000.00 (Millions) US Dollars belonging to a customer who died over 10 years ago leaving nobody to inherit his funds.

I am contacting you so we may have an agreement and proper arrangement Because i want to make you the next of KIN . note 50% of the sum will be for you while the other 50% will be my share as well. All arrangements will be made under a transparent and legitimate framework.

NOTE : I will legally process the papers in your name and I will take care of all expenses and also want to invest part of my share in that business you can handle effectively .

Full details will be disclosed to you on your expression of interest. I will be waiting for your quick response in order to update you with full detail and be informed that this deal will be executed legally.

Yours Sincerely,
Mr Han Harlan

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