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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: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: <barr.michaeledwin01@w.cn>
Date: Tue, 12 Oct 2010 01:30:20 -0700
Subject: Re: Reply,,

I'm not sure you received my previous messages, now this informationneeds urgent attention hence I'm writing you once again.
I'm contacting you for a personal investigation concerning my deceasedclient who bears the same surname with you.
He died in a fatal caraccident alongside his family in 2005, and the management of his bankisat the verge of closing his account due to it's dormant status.
I have been issued a notice to provide an extended next of kin of mydeceased client or have the account confiscated within the next 21banking days.
I am his attorney and personal assistant, but I'm constrained to givedetailed information at this point for security reasons.
And I'm making this effort because I will be disappointed to see thelabour of my deceased client been confiscated.
So kindly get back to me with your full name and address for appraisal.
Best regards,
Barr.Michael Edwin

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