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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: "Janz Wilhelm Ekkehard" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <janz_wilhelm_ekkehard1936@hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, 23 Apr 2011 06:50:10 -0500
Subject: Urgent Attention Needed

Dear Friend,
 
 
With trust, i faithfully contact you; I know this letter will definitely come to you as a huge Surprise, but I implore you to take the time to go through it carefully as the decision you make will go a long way to determine my future and my business prospect.
 
 
My Names are Janz Wilhelm Ekkehard,a German and am foreign Aid in charge of swift transfers (Foreign Transfers) to the Leader of Libya Moammar Qadaffi with the Libya Petroleum Corporation and I have lost my wife and my son in an attack in Libya and my other son has been in coma since the incident and needs urgent treatment, I was saved because I was trapped at work in Tripoli. I need to relocate immediately and I would have left long ago but I am a close associate of Colonel Moammar Qaddafi on Financial issues.
 
 
I help him move money to people unofficially through diplomatic means .But right now the Un wants to declare Libya a no Fly zone which posses a treat to every foreigner and I have in my possession the sum of 20million US dollars which I made from doing business with the Libyan Leader. All I want you to do for me right now is to help me receive this money in your country then I come and meet you and collect it, I cannot move with this money  myself because of situation of things right now.
 
 
I have made diplomatic arrangements of moving the money to anywhere and to someone I can trust. Please my life depends on this money because I need to take my son to a specialist hospital. I will meet your demands. And I want you to know that I need this transaction to be completed urgently because am relocating from a war zone where I have lived all my life and want to come and invest and live in your country.
 
 
Please send me the following information`s for us to proceed
 
 
Full Name:
Contact Address:
Direct Phone Numbers:
Copy of your Identification card.
 
 
With this information I will register this money as a diplomatic consignment and send it to your location. I beg you with the name of God to please help me and know that this is a secret between the both of us. You have to also note that I will give you 30% of this money. If I can get the information I require today you will be with this money in the next 48 Hours and I come over immediately.
 
 
Please you will not regret helping me and I promise you that you will not enter into any kind of problems because I have been doing this for the leader but I need to do it for myself now. We don’t have much time for the war is getting serious by the day please help your brother and God will bless you.
 
 
Thank you for your anticipated help and God bless you. And please note that you have to keep this transaction secret for a swift transaction.
 
 
Regards
Janz Wilhelm Ekkehard

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