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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: "hoel" <hoel_harison@myway.com>
Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2006 14:23:05 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS!


DEAR VICTIMNAME,

THANKS FOR YOUR RESPONSE AND I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF YOU REALLY LIKE TO WORK FROM HOME, TEXT-FAB LIMITED NEEDS A BOOK-KEEPER IN THE STATES, SO I WANT TO KNOW IF YOU WILL LIKE TO WORK ONLINE FROM HOME, GETTING PAID WEEKLY WITHOUT LEAVING OR IT AFFECTING YOUR PRESENT JOB.

I AM PRESENTLY RUNNING A TEXTILES AND FABRIC COMPANY I INHERITED FROM MY LATE FATHER AND WE NEED SOMEONE TO WORK FOR THE COMPANY AS A REPRESENTATIVE/BOOK KEEPER IN THE STATES MY COMPANY PRODUCES HIGH QUALITY AND DURABLE PRODUCTS FROM BOTH HIGH QUALITY AND DURABLE TEXTILES AND FABRIC, EXPENSIVE.

MY CLIENTS MAKE PAYMENTS FOR OUR SUPPLIES EVERY WEEK IN FORM OF CHECKS WHICH ARE NOT READILY CASHABLE OUTSIDE THE US {JUST BECAUSE THIS US CHECKS CAN ONLY BE CASHED WITHIN THE US} SO WE NEED SOMEONE IN THE STATES TO WORK AS OUR REPRESENTATIVE AND ASSIST US IN PROCESSING THE PAYMENTS FROM OUR CLIENTS AND I WILL PAY HIM/HER WEEKLY SALARY{YOU WILL BE PAID 10% FOR EACH TRANSACTION AND WE NORMALLY GET PAID 3 TIMES A WEEK FROM OUR CLIENTS} ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS RECEIVE THIS PAYMENT FROM OUR CLIENT IN THE STATES, YOU CAN CALL THE VERIFYING BANK TO CONFIRM THE FUNDS OR YOU CAN GET IT CASHED AT THE BANK AND THEN DEDUCT YOUR WEEKLY PAY I.E. 10% AND FORWARD THE BALANCE TO THE COMPANY DOWN HERE VIA WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER. YOU WILL KEEP ALL WESTERN UNION TRANSFER RECEIPTS USED AND FORWARD THEM TO US FROM TIME TO TIME, YOU WILL ALSO RECORD ALL TRANSACTIONS ON YOUR COMPUTER BOTH OFFLINE AND ONLINE IN CASE OF ANY EMERGENCY REFERENCES.

WE WOULD HAVE TOLD OUR CLIENTS TO SEND THE MONEY DIRECTLY TO US VIA MONEY GRAM BUT IT HAS BEEN A TRADITION FOR THEM TO PAY US VIA CHECKS AND THE PERSON THAT USED TO HELP US CASH THE CHECKS BEFORE I.E. {OUR FORMER REPRESENTATIVE} HAS BEEN RELIEVED.

OUR PAYMENTS WILL BE ISSUED OUT IN YOUR NAME AND YOU GET THEM CASHED AT THE BANK, (TAX CHARGES ON YOUR ACCOUNT WILL BE DEDUCTED FROM OUR POCKETS NOT YOURS, SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THAT) AND THEN DEDUCT YOUR SALARY AND FORWARD THE BALANCE TO THE COMPANY VIA MONEY TRANSFER METHOD I DID MENTION EARLIER ON. SO ALL I NEED IS TO FORWARD YOUR INFORMATION TO OUR NUMEROUS CLIENTS IN THE STATE AND THEY ISSUE PAYMENT IN FORM OF CHECKS OR BANK WIRE AS THE CASE MAYBE THEN SEND IT VIA COURIER OR BANK TO YOU.

I WILL NEED YOUR INFORMATION AS FOLLOWS:NAME: ........................FULL ADDRESS ........................TEL: ..........................

WE CAN FORWARD IT TO OUR CLIENTS AND THEY WILL START MAKING PAYMENTS TO YOU AS THE COMPANY'S REPRESENTATIVE IN THE STATES. AS SOON AS WE CONFIRM ANY PAYMENT COMING TO YOU I WILL LET YOU KNOW AND I WILL GIVE YOU THE INFORMATION TO SEND FUNDS TO THE COMPANY VIA WESTERN UNION.

THANKS AND I AWAIT YOUR RESPONSE.

HOEL HARISON.MANAGING DIRECTOR.TEXT-FAB LIMITED.

_______________________________________________
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