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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: "Mr Barry Smith" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrbarrysmith11@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Tue, 20 Apr 2010 18:01:10 +0100
Subject: Dear Friend!

Dear Friend!

With due respect to your person and With much sincerity of purpose I make this contact with you as I believe that you can be of great assistance to me,
but first let me introduce myself.

I am Mr Barry Smith, Bank Manager, Camden branch, Barclays Bank, PLC.

I have a business proposal that has to do with the transfer of funds and I cannot state the exact amounts and full details due to security reasons.

I must let you know that this venture entails some rules bending but I must also state that it is not the type that gets one into trouble as it is
extremely secure. It will be of immense benefit to the both of us.

If you want to do business kindly reply me so I will give you precise details. Please ensure strict confidentiality on this mail as the nature of this transaction requires strict confidentiality.

In replying kindly state the following:
Your full names
Age
Location .

Yours Sincerely,
Mr Barry Smith.

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