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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: james williams <jameswiliams_661831@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: <jameswilliams_619@yahoo.it>
Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2007 13:11:14 +0100
Subject:



DEAR FRIEND I WANT YOU TO ASSIST ME AND MY PARTNER TO RECEIVE A PACKAGE WHICH WE ARE WORKING ON HOW TO MOVE OUT OF OUR COUNTRY DOWN TO YOUR COUNTRY, AND WE PROMISE TO GIVEYOU 30% OF THE PACKAGE. WE NEED ONLY: (1) YOUR FULL NAME (2) YOUR ADDRESS (3) MOBILETELEPHONE NUMBERS (4) YOUR INTERNATIONAL PASSPORTNUMBER OR PHOTOGRAPH FOR US TO MAKE THE DEPOSIT INYOUR NAME. THE FLIGHT WILL BE LIVING WITH THE PACKAGE THIS WEEKEND THAT IS WHY WE NEED YOUR ASSISTANCE FOR US TO MAKE SURE THE PACKAGE LEAVE IMMEDIATELY. THE CONTENT OF THE PACKAGE IS $15 MILLION U.S DOLLARS OUR COMPANY SELL BLOC, CRUDE OIL WANT TO SEND THIS MONEY TO OUR CUSTOMERS IN EUROPE THROUGH ASECURITY COMPANY AND IT WAS DECLARED PERSONAL EFFECT. WE WANT TO DIVERT THE MONEY TO YOU SO THAT WE WILL ALL SHARE IT, SO WE WANT YOU TO SEND US THE NEEDED INFORMATION FOR US TO DEPOSIT THE MONEY IN YOUR NAME TO THE SECURITY COMPANY THAT WILL BE LEAVING WITH THEPACKAGE. PLEASE WE ARE SORRY IF WE HAVE OFFENDED YOU FOR THE ASSISTANCE,BUT WE BELIEVE THE BUSINESS WILL CHANGE OUR LIFE.I AWAIT YOUR REPLY WITH THE INFORMATION SO THAT WE WILL DEPOSIT IT WITH YOUR NAME AS THE RIGHTFULBENEFICIARY AND AFTER THAT WE GIVE YOU THE GOODS NUMBER, CODE,PLEASE FOR MORE INFORMATION, YOU CAN CONTACT ME THROUGH THISEMAI. jameswilliams_618@yahoo.it HOPING TO HEAR FROM YOU. THANKS AND GOD BLESS US, MR JAMES WILLIAMS
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