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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: "David Mekwe" <davidmekwe@msn.com>
Reply-To: davemekwe@yahoo.com
Date: Sat, 05 Nov 2005 17:31:48 +0000
Subject: Hello.

Dear Sir,

I am Barrister David Mekwe, a Solicitor and Advocate and personal Attorney
to Abba Sani Abacha, one of the surviving sons of late Sani Abacha, former
President of Nigeria. Without taking much of your time, I want to refer you
to this web: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4449587.stm. Right now, we
have exactly $16.5m with a security firm in Europe and we want to move it
out from there as soon as possible before it is too late.

I am contacting you to assist us in taking delivery of the fund before it
be confiscated. This will be disbursed or shared in these percentages, 60%
to my client and 40% to you. I have all necessary legal documents that can
be used to back up any claim we may make. All I require is your honest
co-operation, confidentiality and trust to enable us see this transaction
through.

I guarantee you that this will be executed under a legitimate arrangement
that will protect you from any breach of the law.

Your urgent response will be highly anticipated and appreciated.

Best regards,
MEKWE David


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