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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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Fraud email example:

From: "TOM GREENE" <tomgreene04@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: tomgreene700@kaixo.com
Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 22:40:25 +0000
Subject: Official Notification.

From:Tom Greene
Tel:44 704 011 0287
Fax:44 870 130 6123


This is an official notification of funds deposited in your name.

We arrange for the safekeeping of special and valuable packages and
baggage in trust for reputable clients that are honest and trustworthy.
A benefactor whose identity can not be disclosed because of the Non
Circumvention and Non Disclosure Agreement that was signed with the
said benefactor when the funds were being deposited, made you the
beneficiary of a package containing some amount of money.

The Non Circumvention and Non Disclosure Agreement signed with the
benefactor mandates us to fully divulge and disclose the benefactor's
identity 18 months after you, the beneficiary, has received the funds.The
funds totals US$7.5M (Seven Million, Five Hundred Thousand United States
Dollars) and we confirm that these funds are fully free of any liens,
or encumbrances and are clean, clear and non-criminal origin and are
available in the form of CASH.

You are hereby advised to reconfirm your Full Contact Information for
verification with information contained in our database in the format
stated below.After verifying the details with the information we have in
our database,you will be contacted to personally claim the funds in the
Finance and Security Firm in Europe where its being kept with the
Consignment Deposit Information (C.D.I) that will empower you to do so.

This Consignment Deposit Information (C.D.I) is what is needed to claim
the funds and will only be sent to you after all your information has
beenverified and confirmed to be true.The information should therefore
be sent in the manner stated below so as to ensure that no mistake is
made.

Your Full Name:

Your Complete Address (Physical Address with Zip Code) :

Date of Birth (Day/Month/Year):

Direct Telephone/Mobile Number:

Fax Number:


Complete the above and send back to me as soon as possible.

Congratulations in advance.

Thank you and I sincerely remain

Tom Greene



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