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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: "Payment Compensation unit" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <infopaymentoffice171@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 1 Jul 2017 14:21:49 -0700
Subject: RE-CONFIRM CHANGE OF YOUR ACCOUNT

I AM WRITING TO CONFIRM THE FACT IF YOU ARE (DEAD) OR (ALIVE) AND FAILURE TO REPLY BACK IN THE NEXT 24HRS SIMPLY MEANS WHAT BARRISTER PAUL BETSY SAID WAS RIGHT THAT YOU ARE DEAD. BARRISTER PAUL BETSY HAS AGREED TO PAY THE NEEDED CHARGE FEE VALUED OF $99.00 DOLLARS REQUIRED FOR THE BOND STAMP DUTY FEE OF YOUR FUNDS , BUT WE WANT TO FIND OUT IF YOU ARE DEAD OR NOT, SO IF YOU ARE STILL (ALIVE) YOU ARE ADVICE IN YOUR OWN BEST INTEREST TO REPLY BACK. THE ONLY MONEY YOU WILL PAY TO OUR OFFICE HERE IS JUST $99.00 FOR THE PAPER WORKS, TAKE NOTE OF THIS NOW, SO WE CAN STOP FURTHER COMMUNICATION WITH BARRISTER PAUL BETS AND START YOUR PAYMENT TO YOU BEING THE ORIGINAL BENEFACTOR OF THE $7,500:000 DOLLARS UNPAID FUND. BELOW IS THE PAYMENT INFORMATION YOU WILL USE TO SEND THE $99.00 TO OUR CASHIER RECEIVERS NAME== IBE MORGAN COUNTRY====== NIGERIA CITY============== LAGOS AMOUNT============$99.00USD MTCN NUMBER=======? YOU MUST SEND US THE DETAILS PROVIDED BY WESTERN UNION/MONEY GRAM IMMEDIATELY YOU MADE THE PAYMENT OF $99.00 USD. BESIDE IF YOU FAIL TO COMPLY WITH THE NEEDED $99.00 DOLLARS REQUIRED THERE'S NO WAY WE CAN SEND OUT YOUR PAYMENT TO YOUR CITY. LOOKING FORWARD TO HEAR FROM YOU IF YOU ARE STILL ALIVE, REPLY BACK FOR FAST ACTION SO THAT YOUR PAYMENT WILL COMMENCE UPON RECEIPT OF YOUR PAYMENT. THE MANAGEMENT OF WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER, NIGERIA HEAD OFFICE. DISPATCHED THIS DAY. FOR INQUIRY, SINCERELY, REV. CHARLES MARTINS +2349054405294

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