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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.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Finance Minister of The Federal Republic of Nigeria" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <infoconsultant@zing.vn>
Date: Fri, 10 May 2013 11:22:02 -0400
Subject: RE: GOOD NEWS CONCERNING YOUR FUNDS,

FEDERAL MINISTRY OF FINANCE
NATIONAL HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY COMPLEX
SENATE HOUSE - UPPER CHAMBERS WUSE DISTRICT,
ABUJA FCT- NIGERIA
Our Ref: FGN/FMF/STB
Your Ref...............
 
 
Dear Beneficiary,
 
I wish to inform you again that we are not playing over this. I know my reason for the continuous sending of this notification to you. The federal government is keen and very determined to pay your overdue debts, this is not a fluke. I would not want you to lose this fund out of ignorance.
 
It has been approved by the office of the Presidency, federal Republic of Nigeria, Central Bank of Nigeria and the federal ministry of finance that your overdue funds must be released to you this time around without any delay. The main clause writen on the approval stated that the only money you will pay to receive your funds is the "Final Funds Release Authority" processing fee of $85.99 only. For your information, this is the final as there is no unforeseen fees and the transfer will become effective as soon as you pay ther "Final Funds Release Authority" processing fee. I don't want you to lose this fund this time around because you may not get another good opportunity like this again.
 
Note that I will send you all the documents as soon as the "Final Funds Release Authority" processing fee is paid, so you have to trust me that you will get your fund. Find a way to get the money sent. I assure you that you will not regret it, instead it will bring your financial predicament to a good elevation you never expected. Find the money and send it to our bursary.The reason why I am sending you this because i want you to receive your long overdue funds worth USD10.7M only. We are trying to round up for this payment program so my advise to you is not to abandon this opportunity because of the requirement of $85.99 only.
 
The fact is that you can't seem to trust anyone again over this payment due to your past exxperience, but I want you to trust me because I cannot scam you just for $85.99 only which will surely tarnish my image and make me to have a bad reputation if i conduct such act. The fee of $85.99 is for your service, I did not invent it to defraud you. It is an official endorsement and the good part of this is that you will never be disturbed again over any kind of payment.
 
Below is the Payment Information you will use in sending the money through Western Union or Money Gram.
 
Receiver's Name: Dan Oba
Address: Lagos, Nigeria
Test Question: Fine
Answer: Finest
 
After sending the money, send all the details of the payment as stated below direct to this email.
 
SENDER'S NAME:___________________
SENDER'S ADDRESS:________________
M.T.C.N NUMBER:__________________
 
Awaiting the payment details as soon as possible.
 
Yours in service,
 
Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
Finance Minister of Nigeria

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