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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: "Timothy F. Geithner" <timothy_geithne1@sify.com>
Reply-To: timothy_geithne3@sify.com
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 2010 08:44:24 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: GET BACK TO ME AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.


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#yiv1246111828 P {
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FROM: TIMOTHY F.GEITHNER
SECRETARY OF THE
TREASURY
DEPARTMENT OF THE UNITED STATE TREASURY
1500 PENNSYLVANIA
AVENUE,
NW
WASHINGTON, D.C 20220
TEL/FAX:1-347-521-2486

ATTENTION:
BENEFICIARY

IT CAME TO MY NOTICE TODAY FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF
TERRORISM
AND FINANCIAL INTELLIGENCE THAT THE SUM OF USD 8.7 MILLION UNITED STATE
DOLLARS
HAS BEEN PLACED ON HOLD IN OUR TREASURY AS A RESULT OF IRREGULARITIES
AND AN
ATTEMPTED EFFORT TO DIVERT THE FUND FROM GOING TO THE INITIAL
BENEFICIARY BANK
ACCOUNT TO AN UNKNOWN BANK ACCOUNT. FROM THE REPORT OF INVESTIGATION
CARRIED OUT
BY THE FEDERAL BUREAU INVESTIGATION UNIT (FBI) DIRECTOR ROBERT MULLER
III, WE
WERE MADE TO UNDERSTAND THAT YOU ARE THE RIGHTFUL BENEFICIARY TO THIS
FUND, BUT
THE CORRUPT OFFICIAL OF THE GOVERNMENT AND BANK WHERE THE TRANSFER WAS
ORIGINATED FROM TRIED TO DIVERT THE FUND TO AN UNKNOWN ACCOUNT THEREFORE
CAUSING
A CONFLICT IN TRANSFER WHICH HAS MADE THE DEPARTMENT OF TERRORISM AND
FINANCIAL
INTELLIGENCE TO INTERCEPT THE TRANSFER OF THE MONEY FROM GETTING INTO AN
UNKNOWN
ACCOUNT UNTIL YOU SATISFY THIS DEPARTMENT WITH CONCRETE EVIDENCE THAT
YOU ARE
THE RIGHT BENEFICIARY TO THE FUND WITH US AND THAT THE MONEY IS NOT TO
BE USED
TO SPONSOR TERRORISM.

IN AN EFFORT TO DO OUR JOB EFFICIENTLY AND
TO
ENABLE THE FEDERAL BUREAU INVESTIGATION UNIT TO COMPLETE THEIR
INVESTIGATION,
YOU ARE REQUIRED TO RECONFIRM YOUR DETAILS AS STATED BELOW AND ALSO
PROVIDE US
IN THIS DEPARTMENT OF THE UNITED STATE TREASURY WITH THE ORIGIN OF FUND
CERTIFICATE.

FULL NAME'S:
COMPLETE RESIDENTIAL
ADDRESS:
TELEPHONE:
MOBILE:
FAX:
OCCUPATION:
DATE OF
BIRTH:

UPON THE RECEIPT OF THE ABOVE DETAILS FROM YOU AND A SCAN
COPY OF
THE ORIGIN OF FUND CERTIFICATE, WE SHALL COMMENCE WITH THE NEXT LINE OF
ACTION.

GET BACK TO ME AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

YOURS
SINCERELY,

MR. TIMOTHY F. GEITHNER
SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY
US

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY.

**********************
** LEGAL
DISCLAIMER
**
**********************
This E-mail message and any attachments
may
contain legally privileged, confidential or proprietary information. If
you are
not the intended recipient(s), or the employee or agent responsible for
delivery
of this message to the intended recipient(s), you are hereby notified
that any
dissemination, distribution or copying of this E-mail message is
strictly
prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please
immediately
notify the sender and delete this E-mail message from your computer.

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