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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: "Kevin Keitah" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <keitahk@aol.com>
Date: Fri, 4 Dec 2009 17:29:19 -0000
Subject: Please Reply soon and Advice me......

Greetings from Kevin Keitah:
 
I am Kevin Keitah son of a Traditional Chief, Mr. Massimbo Keitah a licensed business merchant and contractor. My father passed away some years back. few years baefore he died, he apparently married a woman who became my stepmother because my mother died when i was very young. 
 
It is my honour writing you with great confidence help me to stand as foreign partner to my late father in order to secure my heir, a huge sum of money inherited from my late father. It will be impossible for me to further education in an Aviation school aboard without the money. The reason i need your help is because of the agreement my father had with his bank manager which is the money should be transferred to a foreign associate account for investment and to further my education aboard in an Aviation school, so I am not able to withdraw any money from the account until it is being transferred to you as the foreign business partner to my late father since I have waited so long without hearing from my late father business Partner. 
 
I wish to entrust my only hope left to you depending on your resopnse. Firstly, I will have to go to the bank with your information to introduce you to the bank account manager as the foreign business partner to my late father so that he will listen and accept to transfer the funds. I wrote you this e-mail as my faith and instinct led me with confidence that you will not let me down considering my situation. Absolutely am being left as an orphan since my father died. The rest of my parents properties have been taken by my wicked stepmother and uncle who is even seeking to kill me and prevent future case. I feel very uncomfortable with the situation here and I wish to invest the funds in your country and secure my admission into an aviation school. I will be glad if you assure me of your willingness and support to help  me since you are living in a more peaceful/advanced country than my war ravaged country.
I will appreciate if you accept my proposal with sincerity and I am willing to offer 810,000 Euro for your assistance. I will be happy If you find it more convenient to fly down to the bank to handle the transaction directly with the bank Manager so that I can go back with you to your country for my education and investment. I will give you more detail as soon as I hear from you depending on your response.
 
For more detail about me, I am undergraduate student, 17years old from Sierra leone but presently residing in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire. I am patiently waiting for success transfer of the funds to secure admssion into Aviation school and I want the funds to be invested while i continue my aviation school through your kind assistance.
 
Please e-mail me with your response and let me know how to contact you by email/phone and address for easy communication with you. 
 
Kind regards,
Kevin Keitah

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