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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: Mr Henri Degroodt <roberthutchisonconsultant50000@googlemail.com>
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2008 20:46:52 +0100
Subject: AN IMMEDIATE SWIFT RESPONSE IS NEEDED.


Attention Pls,
This might come to you as a shock, but i want you to note that if you
corporate with me, we can both have the world in our feet in couple of days,
Today i am a complete stranger, at the same time i am worth more than a best
friend.
My name is Mr Robert Hutchison,I am an Heir Hunter to the UK Wealth
Management Unit, part of my duty is to trace relatives of a deceased
Beneficiary who hasn't left a will or has no next of Kin. When a deceased
person fails to have a will of probhate, it is our duty to award his/her
Estate to any closed relative with the aid of an oath commissioner.
In a situation when a relative is not found, we either present it to a close
social aid to the deceased (if there's any), or pay it into the British
Government Coffers for the improvement of the less priviledge communities in
Britain. (This is what the general public is told, but in real sense it goes
into black holes, greedy policians from the labour party will spend it on
their selfish lifestyle).
One thing that makes me totally devastated is the fact that this politicians
make so much money from Dormant Estate and none of them has venture
rendering aid to victims of flood in New Orleans or Earth Quake in China,
after careful consideration i decided to inform you about a certain Error
which i consider a stroke of luck to your path.
We use a trace search device to find relatives of a decease person, your
information was produce by this device based on you bearing same surname
with the deceased person, and in most cases 99% of the information we get
from this device are accurate, no one will ever find out about this error in
a million years, after careful consideration i decided not to inform the
Board about this Error, the amount of Money involve is $19 Million dollars,
with your corporation, i can go with half and you will have half of it as
well, please be discret about this and avoid informaing any third party,
call me on 00447961958732 as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Robert Hutchison - W.M.T, Heir Hunter.
P.S, Remember to be discret about this, with my 21 years experience i can
assure you this is risk free and no one will ever find out in a million
years, only when you disclose this to a third party that will lead to the
downfall of this plan!!!! be warned.

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