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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.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "saeed ahmed" <saeed_ahmed78@hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 25 Jul 2006 12:42:32 +0000
Subject: THANKS FOR YOUR EMAIL. I WILL SEND YOU THE LETTER OF AUTHOURISATION TOMMORROW.

DEAR JUSTIN,

GOOD DAY TO YOU AND THANKS FOR YOUR EMAIL AND ALSO FOR GIVING ME THE ANSWER
TO THE QUESTIONS I ASKED YOU AND ALSO FOR SENDING ME THE MAIL THE SECURITY
COMPANY SENT TO YOU. I HAVE READ THE EMAIL THE COMPANY SENT TO YOU AND I
UNDERSTAND ALL THEY HAVE ASKED YOU TO BRING. YOU WILL HAVE TO MAKE A
PHOTOCOPY OF YOUR INTERNATIONAL PASSPORT/DRIVERS LICENSE AND SEND TO THEM AS
AN EMAIL ATTACHMENT FOR IDENTIFICATION PURPOSE.

THE OTHER DOCUMENTS THAT THE COMPANY HAVE ASKED FOR ARE: CERTIFICATE OF
DEPOSIT, AIRWAY BILL AND LETTER OF AUTHOURISATION. I HAVE ALREADY SENT TO
YOU THE AIRWAY BILL AND CERTIFICATE OF DEPOSIT TO YOU WHEN YOU ASKED FOR
PROOF. I SENT THEM TO YOU AS AN EMAIL ATTACHMENT. I WILL FIND A WAY OF
MAKING THE LETTER OF AUTHOURISATION IN YOUR NAME AND SEND TO YOU HOPEFULLY
TOMMORROW BY EMAIL ATTACHMENT.

THE LETTER OF AUTHOURISATION WILL BE IN YOUR NAME AND IT GIVES YOU THE LEGAL
AUTHOURITY AND RIGHT TO CLAIM THE 2 BOXES FROM THE COMPANY ON MY BEHALF.
FIND ATTACHED BELOW THE CERTIFICATE OF DEPOSIT AND THE AIRWAY BILL. I WILL
SEND YOU THE LETTER OF AUTHOURISATION TOMMORROW, AND WHEN YOU GET THE LAST
DOCUMENT TOMMORROW, YOU WILL SEND ALL THE DOCUMENTS TO THE COMPANY AS AN
EMAIL ATTACHMENT. PLEASE WHEN YOU RECIVE THIS EMAIL WITH THE 2 DOCUMENTS
THAT I HAVE SENT TO YOU AS EMAIL ATTACHMENT, PLEASELET ME KNOW AND LIKE I
SAID HOPEFULLY I WILL SEND YOU THE LAST DOCUMENT YOU NEED FROM ME.

SAEED AHMED.

_________________________________________________________________
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Anti-fraud resources: