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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: Cpt Nelson Ramon <captainnelson@myway.com> (may be fake)
Reply-To: captain.nelson@hotmail.com
Date: Wed, 20 Jan 2010 10:31:48 -0700
Subject: Dear Friend



Dear Friend

With a very desperate need for assistance, I have summed up courage to contact
you.I am presently in Iraq with the serving with the US Marine platoon;I found
your contact particulars in an Address journal.I am seeking your assistance to
evacuate the sum of $1.5M(one million five hundred thousand dollars) to you,as
far as I can be assured that it will be safe in your care until I complete my
service here.This is no stolen money,and there are no dangers involved.

SOURCE OF MONEY:

Some money in various currencies was discovered concealed in barrels with
piles of weapons and ammunitions at a location near one of Saddam's old
palaces during a rescue operation,and it was agreed by all party present that
the money be shared amongst us,this was quite an illegal thing to do, but I
tell you what? No compensation can make up for the risks we have taken with
our lives in this hell hole.

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 German contact working
here,and his office enjoys some immunity,I was able to get the package out to
a safe location entirely out of trouble spot.He does not know the real
contents of the package, and believes that it belongs to an Asian American who
died in an air raid,and before giving up,trusted me to hand over the package
to his business associate.

There is a secured way of getting the package out to a safer country for you
to pick up,and i will discuss this with you when I am sure that you are
willing to assist me.One passionate appeal I will make to you is not to
discuss this matter with a third party,should you have reasons to reject this
offer,please destroy this mail as any leakage of this information will be too
bad for us.

I do not know for how long we will remain here probably during winter break i
would be home,I have survived 2 suicide bomb attacks by the special grace of
God,this and other reasons I will mention later has prompted me to reach out
for help.Please you can reach me on my
personal e-mail address below for more informations.

Respectfully,
Cpt Nelson Ramon

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