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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: "Sgt Smith Martins" <martins0038@livedoor.com>
Reply-To: sgtmartinssmith@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2008 12:55:50 +0200
Subject: Attention:Sir/Madam


Attention:Sir/Madam

My name is Sgt Smith Martins., I am an American soldier with Swiss
background, serving in the military with the army's 3rd infantry division.
With a very desperate need for assistance, I have summed up courage to
contact you. I found your contact particulars in an address journal. I am
seeking your kind assistance to move the sum of ( $ 35 million u.s. dollars
) Thirty Five million united states dollars to you, as far as&nbsp; I can be
assured that my share will be safe in your care until I complete my service
here, this is no stolen money, and there are no danger involved.
Source of money:

Some money in various currencies was discovered in barrels at a farmhouse
near one of Saddam's old palaces in Tikrit-Iraq during a rescue operation,
and it was agreed by staff Sgt Kenneth buff and I that some part of this
money be shared among both of us before informing anybody about&nbsp; it
since both of us saw the money first. This was quite an illegal thing to do,
but I tell you what? No compensation can make up for the risk we have taken
with our lives in this hell hole. Of which my brother in-law was killed by a
road side bomb last week.The above figure was given to me as my share, and
to conceal this kind of money became a problem for me, so with the help of a
British contact working here and his office enjoy some immunity, I was able
to get the package out to a safe location entirely out of trouble spot. he
does&nbsp; not know the real contents of the package, and believes that it
belongs to a brithish/american medical doctor who died in a raid here in
Iraq, and before giving up, trusted me to hand over the package to his
family in united states.

I have now found a much secured way of getting the package out of Iraq to
your country for you to pick up, and I will discuss this with you when I am
sure that you are willing to assist me. I want you to tell me how much you
will take from this money for the assistance you will give to me. One
passionate appeal I will make to you is not to discuss this matter with
anybody, should you have reasons to reject this offer, please and please
destroy this message as any leakage of this information will be too bad for
us soldier's here in Iraq. I do not know how long we will remain here, and i
have been shot, wounded and survived two suicide bomb attacks by the special
grace of&nbsp; God, this and other reasons i will mention later has prompted
me to reach out for help, i honestly want this matter to be resolved
immediately, please contact me as soon as possible my only way of
communication email.

Respond to me with this below email:

sgtmartinssmith@yahoo.com.hk

God Bless

Sgt Smith Martins.

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