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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: " Fred Wesson" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <fredwessonus@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 9 Dec 2013 13:09:18 -0000
Subject: URGENT

Hello Dear,
 
 
I know this is certainly an unconventional approach to start up any kind of relationship, however due to limited time at my disposal and some name
similarity, I am compelled to make this contact to you through this means. I am Mr. Fred Wesson. I am the Chief Security and Inspection Officer at
Diplomatic Cargo Facility of Seattle Tacoma  International Airport in the State of Washington here in United States. I supervise the operations of
Department of Homeland Security, United States Customs, Quarantine and Border Protection agencies here in this Airport.
 
During my general inspection few months ago, I discovered an abandoned cargo shipment in our facility here. Having being abandoned for long, I
decided to scan the cargo with our newly acquired Ultra High Resolution X-Ray Scanner to ascertain the content of the shipment. The scan revealed
some undisclosed sum of new Hundred Dollar denominated bills neatly wrapped in water proof nylon and concealed in a metal box weighing
approximately 120kg. I believe the cargo was abandoned because the content of the cargo was not properly declared by the consignor as currency rather
it was declared as Personal effects to avoid suspicion or diversion.
 
Moreover, the documentation was vaguely prepared making it difficult to trace the cargo to anyone. I have investigated the source, destination,
purpose and reason of abandonment and have known everything I needed to know about the cargo but will prefer to keep my findings secret until I
hear from you. On my estimation, the cargo contains about Three or Four Million United States Dollars neatly sealed in water proof nylon and
packed inside the Box as scan revealed. Neither I nor any other staff of this Airport can unilaterally move this shipment out of this Cargo
Facility without having any one who will stand as the recipient and apply for it as his or her missing cargo which he has been looking for since a
year ago and have managed to trace it to our Airport.
 
 
 
I am contacting you to seek your permission to route this shipment to you. I will guide you through every step and process till the cargo is
delivered to you. Since I have established the reason for abandonment, I can guarantee that this deal is as good as closed. I can equally assure
that there will not be any problem as long as you adhere to my advise. If you accept to work with me, I will arrange for the delivery of the cargo
to your address as the rightful owner after you must have applied for the release to you. I will let you know what I will require from you to bring
this deal to a close. Upon delivery to your house, we shall use a welding machine to cut open the metal box and share the money equally between us.
Please provide me with your SKYPE ID or YAHOO MESSENGER to enable us have a video chat. I will provide you with details if you indicate interest to
work with me. Thanks,
 
 
 
Mr. Fred Wesson
Chief Security & Inspection Officer
Diplomatic Cargo Facility
Seattle Tacoma (SEA-TAC) International Airport,
17801 International Blvd, Seattle, WA 98158
Phone:(206) 497-3739

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