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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: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: <r1001moore@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2008 07:40:23 +0000
Subject: MY DEAR GOOD FRIEND,



MY DEAR GOOD FRIEND,I KNOW THAT THIS PROPOSAL MAY COME TO YOU AS A SURPRISE, ESPECIALLY HAVING TO COME FROM SOMEONE YOU HAVE NOT MET BEFORE, BUT I WOULD LIKE YOU TO CO-OPERATE WITH ME SO THAT THIS $40M WILL BE RELEASED AND TRANSFERRED INTO YOUR ACCOUNT.MY NAME IS ENGR.RICHARD MOORE, THE CHAIRMAN OF CONTRACT AWARD COMMITTEE OF NIGERIA NATIONAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION (N.N.P.C).IT IS MY PROFOUND INTENTION TO CONTACT YOU FOR THIS VERY IMPORTANT AND HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL TRANSACTION FOR TRANSFER OF $40M INTO YOUR ACCOUNT.THE $40M WAS THE OVER ESTIMATED BALANCE FROM THE CONTRACTS AWARDED TO BOTH FOREIGN AND LOCAL CONTRACTORS.THE REAL CONTRACT VALUE WAS $170 MILLION DOLLARS BUT IT WAS OVER ESTIMATED TO $210 MILLION DOLLARS.THE CONTRACT HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY EXECUTED BY THE CONTRACTORS AND THEIR CONTRACT SUM ($170M) HAS BEEN PAID TO THEM, LEAVING OUR OVER ESTIMATED BALANCE OF $40 MILLION DOLLARS STILL PENDING AT THE BANK.RIGHT NOW,WE ARE LEFT WITH THIS OVER ESTIMATED BALANCE($40m) WHICH IS STILL FLOATING AT THE PAYING BANK AWAITING FINAL PAYMENT TO ANY RELIABLE FOREIGN BANK ACCOUNT YOU MAY PROVIDE.WE ARE THEREFORE ASKING YOU TO CO-OPERATE WITH US SO THAT THE FUND WILL BE RELEASED AND TRANSFERRED INTO YOUR ACCOUNT.WHEN THE FUNDS IS TRANSFERRED INTO YOUR ACCOUNT, YOU WILL BENEFIT 40% OF THE TOTAL AMOUNT.IN THIS REGARD,WE WOULD LIKE YOU TO SEND US THE FOLLOWING INFORMATIONS:YOUR NAME:-------YOUR OCCUPATION:----YOUR ADDRESS:----YOUR PRIVATE PHONE NUMBERS:-----YOUR PRIVATE FAX NUMBER:--------YOUR REPLY AND INFORMATION REQUIRED SHOULD BE URGENT SO THAT WE WILL SUBMIT APPLICATION TO THE PAYING BANK FOR TRANSFER OF THE FUNDS INTO YOUR ACCOUNT.I AM EXPECTING TO HEAR FROM YOU SOONEST.THANKS AND BEST REGARDS.YOURS FAITHFULLY,ENGR.RICHARD MOORE.CHAIRMAN,CONTRACT AWARD COMMITTEE,

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