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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.

 

 

Fraud email example:

From: "MR.BEN ATTAH" <mrben_attahp@yahoo.co.in> (may be fake)
Reply-To: mrben_attahl@yahoo.co.in
Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2005 23:13:44 +0000
Subject: WAITING FOR YOUR URGENT REPLY

ATTN:

I AM MR.BEN ATTAH,WORKING WITH DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN OPERATIONS, FEDERAL MINISTRY OF FINANCE,DAKAR,SENEGAL.I GOT YOUR CONTACT THROUGH AN ASSOCIATE WHO WORKS WITH THE SENEGALAISE CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE (FOREIGN TRADEDIVISION).

THIS TRANSACTION REQUIRES MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING,TRANSPARENCY AND ABSOLUTE TRUST.ONE MR. PAKIR KUBANI FROM INDIA EXECUTED A CONTRACT WITH THE FEDERAL MINISTRY OF AVIATION HERE IN SENEGAL. THE CONTRACT
WORTH IS TWENTY MILLION, FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS (US$20,500,000.00), BUT DURING THE PROCESS OF TRANSFERRING THE MONEY TO HIM, HE DIED IN AN EARTHQUAKE DISASTER THAT OCCURED RECENTLY IN INDIA.
MEANWHILE THIS FUND IS PRESENTLY SITTING IN A FERERATION ACCOUNT WITH THE BANK OF AFRICA,DAKAR,SENEGAL.
NOBODY KNOWS WHAT IS GOING ON EXCEPT TWO OF MY COLLEAGUES AND I. THIS IS THE INFORMATION OF THE CONTRACT EXECUTED BY MR. PAKIR KUBANI:CONTRACT NUMBER: FMA/SLE/BIR/99CONTRACT SUM:US$20,500,000.00. YOU WILL STAND AS THE PARTNER TO MR.PAKIR KUBANI AS THE SOLE BENEFICIARY OF THIS FUND.

I WILL SEND TO YOU ALL THE RELEVANT DOCUMENTS THAT ARE REQUIRED IN THIS TRANSACTION IMMEDIATELY YOU ACCEPT TO CO-OPERATE WITH ME FOR YOUR VERIFICATION AND CONFIRMATION BEFORE WE PROCEED. THIS TRANSACTION IS
100% RISK FREE AND NEEDS UTMOST SINCERERITY FROM ALL THE PARTIES INVOLVED. I WILL BE GOING FOR MY RETIREMENT VERY SOON, SO I NEED THIS MONEY TO TAKE CARE OF MY FAMILY IN FUTURE.

I AWAIT YOUR URGENT RESPONSE.
REGARDS.
MR.BEN ATTAH


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