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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 about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "Dr. Carlos Beto." <carlos_beto01@yahoo.co.uk> (may be fake)
Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2006 19:58:34 +0400
Subject: Very Urgent From Dr. Carlos Beto.

Dear Friend,

My name is Dr. Carlos Beto, a solicitor at-law; I am the personal
attorney to one of my late clients Mr. Wayne, he worked with a multinational Oil
& Gas company here in United Arab Emirates and shares the same last name with
you.

In summer 2001, Mr. Wayne, his wife and their three children were
involved in an auto-crash while returning to Dubai from France on a holiday
trip. Unfortunately, all occupants of the SUV they were traveling on lost
their lives. Since then I have made several enquiries to his embassy to
locate any of his extended relatives and this has also proved unsuccessful.

After these several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to track his last
name over the Internet, to locate any exact matched surname and that was how
I found your contact email address.

My deceased client had an account balance with a bank valued at about
£8.9million, I have contacted you to assist in receiving the money left
behind by my client before it is confiscated or declared unserviceable
by the bank and I have been issued a notice as his attorney to provide his
next of kin or have the account confiscated.

Since I have been unsuccessful in locating my client's relatives; I now
seek your consent to present you as the next of kin of my deceased client
since you have the same last name so that the proceeds of his account
£8.9million can be paid to you. You and I can then share the money 60% to me and
40% for you. All I require is your honest cooperation to enable us seeing this
project through. I guarantee that this will be executed under a
legitimate/risk-free arrangement that will protect you and me from any
breach of the law.

I await your positive response that MUST include your private telephone
number; I will call to discuss this matter if it interests you. Be
advised to reply strictly via my private email address: carlosbeto1@yahoo.co.uk

Best regards
Dr.Carlos Beto.
carlosbeto1@yahoo.co.uk



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