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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: "Tunde Lemo" <tundelemo1960@msn.com>
Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2005 17:31:49 +0000
Subject: Please respond

I am Tunde Lemo, Deputy Governor, Financial Sector Surveillance of the
central bank.In the discharge of my duty,I stumbled on this domiciliary
account that has remained dormant for three years now with Ten million
dollars(US$10m) in it. I contacted my director and we sent out staff for
enquiries and discovered that the account holder died in an accident.I
would
respectfully request that you keep the contents of this mail
confidential
and respect the integrity of the information you come by as a result of
this
mail.

I am writing you so that we can work together to remit the money to you
as
the next of kin because this money belongs to a foreigner and has to be
claimed by a foreigner.
I guarantee this transaction under a legitimate arrangements that will
not
breach the law by both parties, it is simple process which will take a
short
while to process.If I hear from you,I will tell you all
you need to know about the money.
Sincerely,
Mr. Tunde Lemo


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