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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: "a.mohamed" (may be fake)
Date: Fri, 8 Jul 2011 05:14:12 -0700
Subject: GOOD DAY TO YOU


UNITED NATIONS
AND WORLD BANK ASSISTED
PROJECT MANAGEMENT/PAYMENTS,
TRANSFER/AUDIT UNIT
Our Ref: UNM/NF/UN/XX029
www.un.org.my



Attn;

This is to inform you that your overdue contract/inheritance payment funds valued at (Thirty-Six Million, and Five Hundred Thousand [pounds] was recently approved for release/remittance by the united kingdom Head office of the United Nations/World bank assisted project management and payments into any of your designated bank accounts with payment Release Code: UNM/REF:3650/5/11. However, in the course of processing your payment files, we discovered that one Ms. Florence Sullivan of Takoma Park, Maryland USA lodged a claim with the paying bank for the release of your payment to her as your sole authorized beneficiary.

Did you authorize Ms. Sullivan to claim your USD36.5m due contract/inheritance payment fund? She claims she’s acting under your supervision and authorization. Before we proceed any further, we would kindly appreciate if you could respond to this email confirming whether or not you have authorized this lady to receive your funds on your behalf.

If you have not authorized this lady, we will move to terminate her claims with the paying bank, and immediately begin the process of remitting the funds to you via any method suitable to you. With your full co-operation, the remittance process should be completed within the next 5-7 business days.

Respond to this email ASAP re-confirming your Full Name,Telephone Numbers and Contact details to confirm that you the bonafied beneficiary haven’t authorized Ms. Sullivan to receive your payment on your behalf. We await your prompt response.

Regards,

a.mohamed.
united kingdom UN/World bank assisted project management and payments.
National Office,
Tel:+447031883799
a.mohamed@accountant.com


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