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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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Fraud email example:

From: dr_ganitofa@zipmail.com.br
Date: Thu, 31 Mar 2005 01:12:24 +0200
Subject: =?iso-8859-1?Q?URGENT=20REPLY=3A?=

Dear Friend ,
With close inquiries made about you ,I believe you can handle this matter.I
humbly seek your assistance in a matter that needs utmost trust and confidence.I
am MR.GANI TOFA.(MBA,ACIS)and I am the MANEGAR to ZENITH BANK PLC in the
federal republic of nigeria.

There is an account in my BANK that has not been updated in the last six
years and it has the sum of u.s $20,000,000. This money has no beneficiary
and severe investigations show that the account belongs to a foreign company
belonging to Mr.Alan P. Seamann who died a couple of years ago.Right now,
I am willing to give you 20% of the total sum as your own share if the money
is transferred into your account.

The nature of your business is not relevant for the success of this transaction.
I have taken all necessary precautions to make sure that the transaction
is 100% risk free and it is believed that this transaction will be completed
within seven working days. I require you to send me your private email address,
phone and fax number for an easy and well secured communication.

Please you must keep this transaction secret at all times until you have
received the fund in your account. I am looking forward to your urgent responseto
my private mail address(dr_ganitofa@yahoo.com)

Best regards
MR. GANI TOFA.



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