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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: "US Army Sgt. Eric Yonenson" <id1971081@att.net>
Reply-To: sgt.ericr2002000@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 14 Dec 2010 12:41:56 -0800 (PST)
Subject: From American soldier in Iraq

Important Message,


Good day,


My name is Sgt. Eric Yonenson, I am an American soldier, I served in the military of the 1st Armored Division in Iraq, as you know we have ended combat operations in Iraq but we are still being attacked by insurgents everyday and car bombs. We managed to move funds belonging to Saddam Hussein's family in 2003. The total amount is US$25 Million dollars in cash, mostly 100 dollar bills, this money has been kept somewhere outside Baghdad for sometime but with the end of combat operations and reduction of troops by president Obama, we are afraid that the money will be discovered hence we want to move this money to you for safe keeping pending the completion of our assignment here. You can go to this web link to read about events that took place there:


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2988455.stm


we are ready to compensate you with good percentage of the funds, No strings attached, just for you to help us move it out of Iraq. Iraq is still a war zone, so we plan on using diplomatic means in shipping the money out as military cargo using diplomatic immunity. If you are interested I will send you the full details, my job is to find a good partner that we can trust and that will assist us. Can I trust you? When you receive this letter, kindly send me an email signifying your interest including your most confidential telephone numbers for quick communication also your contact details.


This is risk free.


With regards,


Sgt. Eric Yonenson

Anti-fraud resources: