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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: "GEORGE WETU" <georgewetu1010@gmail.com>
Reply-To: <georgewetu@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 10 Apr 2010 07:49:03 +0200
Subject: Greetings,

Greetings,
 
I am very sorry for the informal manner in which this message is reaching you, as this was necessitated by my urgent need to reach a dependable and trust worthy foreign contact, This request may seem unsolicited for or perhaps otherwise but I hope to crave your indulgence and pray that you take my request seriously.
 
I am Capt. George Wetu. I am with the Engineering Military Unit in Luanda Angola and I need your partnership on an urgent transaction worth the sum of US$ 12.5 million dollars ready for shipment to a safe residential address as soon as possible.
 
Should you be interested, please send me your response message to my private email:georgewetu1@gmail.com expressing your assistance and interest and then there after I will disclose the full detail and contents of the whole matter, hence I am asurring you a 100% risk free transaction
 
I hope to hear from you soon.
 
Regards,
Capt. George Wetu

Anti-fraud resources: