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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: DR BENSON FRANK <dr.benfrank@hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 9 Aug 2007 13:36:55 +0100
Subject: VERY URGENT DR BEN FRANK.



DEAR MR RAINHARD.

I AM WRITING YOU THROUGH THIS EMAIL ADFDRESS BECAUSE MY YAHOO EMAIL ADDRESS IS ALWAYS BEING INTERCEPTED BY THE SOFTWARE FROM YOUR COUNTRY.

YOU KNOW BY NOW WE OUGHT TO HAVE CONCLUDED THIS BUSINESS BUT UNNECESSARY DELAYS HAVE BEEN AFFECTING US.

PLEASE READY MY EMAIL AND GET BACK TO ME AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. IF POSSIBLE OPEN NEW YAHOO.COM OR HOTMAIL FOR QUICK RESPONSE.

DR BEN FRANK
_________________________________________________________________
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Anti-fraud resources: