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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: "Capt. A. P. Gonzalez, Jr" <sweetone102@att.net>
Reply-To: <apgonzalezjr2@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 01:38:45 +0100
Subject: Please reply me ASAP

My Dear Friend,

My name is Capt. Gonzalez, Jr; An American Soldier that served in the military with the army's 3rd infantry division in Iraq but now redeployed to Afghanistan. I am desperately in need of assistance and I have summoned up courage to contact you. I am presently in Afghanistan and I found your contact particulars in an address journal. I am seeking your assistance to evacuate the sum of US$15 million (Fifteen Million US Dollars) that I acquired in Iraq during my service there to the United States or any safe country of your choice; 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. You will find the story of this money on the web address below: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2988455.stm

SOURCE OF MONEY:
Some money in various currencies was discovered in barrels at a farm house near one of Saddam's old palaces in Tikrit-Iraq during a rescue operation, Staff Sgt Kenneth Buff and I agreed to share some part of this money amongst us before informing anybody about it since both of us saw the money first. This might appear as 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 an European Diplomat working with the UN here (his office enjoys 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 (since it was concealed in a box) as I told him it contains Personal Belongings of an American soldier who died in an air raid, and before giving up trusted me to hand over the package to his close
relative. As agreed the Diplomat

Respectfully,
Capt. Alexander P. Gonzalez, Jr

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