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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: michaelbala232@tiscali.ch
Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2005 17:32:10 +0200
Subject: Respond Asap


Dear Sir,

I am Mr.Michael Bala, a Sierra Leonian by nationality. Presently I am residing
in a neighbouring
Benin Republic on exile.

After the war that ravaged my country for a couple of years, most of us
in the military are under very tight
scrutiny and constant oppression, thus necessitating my fleeing to Cotonou
for safety.

I have certain amount of money to the tune of $25M (Twenty-Five Million
United States Dollars), in a security and finance company in Europe with
which I wish to invest in a related area of my interest which is acquisition
of real estate/buying franchise of one or two of your products which will
be exported to popular African markets that commands large demand of such
products.

This will be done on your personal advice. Therefore if you indicate interest
to fashion me with investment
advice, I will be glad to receive your kind response through e-mail for
further explanation regarding my
request. E-mail address for your response is: michael_bala232@hotmail.com

Regards and God bless you

Mr.Michael Bala.

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