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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: "hayford ononuju" <ononuju2@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: ononuju8@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 09 Dec 2005 23:24:23 +0000
Subject: DEAR FRIEND

DEAR FRIEND,


Permit me to introduce myself, my name is MR. Hayford Ononuju I work with
Union Bank of Nigeria Limited as(Assistant Auditor),in the discharge of my
duty,I stumbled on this domiciliary account that has remained dormant for
three years now with six million two hundred Thousand dollars(US$6.2m) in
it. I contacted my director and we sent out staff for enquiries and
discovered that the account holder died in an accident. 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. N.B Please reply to my personal email address:
ononujuo5@yahoo.co.uk

Best Regards,

MR. Hayford Ononuju


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