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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: Ken Amadi <kenamadi4@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2006 01:51:16 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: THIS IS THE INFORMATION NEEDED FROM YOU


DEAR SIR,
THANK YOU FOR YOUR MAIL WHICH YOU REQUESTED TO KNOW IF THIS IS SPAM MAIL OR NOT.WELL,THIS IS NOT SPAM AS YOU HAVE SAID IN YOUR MAIL THIS IS REAL AND DOING IT WILL CONVINCE YOU.
I WILL LIKE YOU TO KNOW ONE THING,I AM 56 YEARS OLD AND FROM A RESPONSIBLE FAMILY.IF AT MY AGE I WILL BE ENGAGED IN SOME SORTS OF THINGS WHICH ARE NOT TRUE,I WILL BE DECIEVING MY SELF AND WHAT WILL I TELL MY CHILDREN?.APART FROM MY AGE,I AM FROM A CHRISTIAN HOME MY FATHER IS THE BISHOP OF THE NIGER DELTA WEST DIOCESS OF THE ANGLICAN CHURCH IN NIGERIA SO WITH HIS POSITION,I WILL NEVER BE ENGAGED IN THINGS THAT WILL NOT COME TO FRIUTFULL END.
TO START THE TRANSACTION,YOU WILL SEND TO ME IMMEDIATELY YOUR ACCOUNT INFORMATION WHICH WILL INCLUDE YOUR BANK NAME AND ADDRESS,YOUR ACCOUNT NUMBER AND THE ACCOUNT NAME WHICH WILL INCLUDE THE SORTING CODE OR THE ROUTING NUMBER.
YOU WILL ALSO SEND YOUR PRIVATE TELEPHONE NUMBER TO REACH YOU.
I WILL BE EXPECTING YOUR PROMPT REPLY.
KEN AMADI


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