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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: "DR FRED JOHN" <fred_john@latinmail.com> (may be fake)
Date: Tue, 27 Jul 2010 08:00:22 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Good Day Sir Reply,,




--
Good Day Sir

Please accept my sincere apologizes if my email does not meet your
business or personal ethics. I will first introduce myself as Dr Fred
John,a staff in the Accounts Management Section of a well-known bank, here
in Dublin, Ireland.


One of our accounts, with holding balance of $126,000,000 (One Twenty Six
Million Dollars) has been dormant and last operated four years ago. From
my investigations and confirmation, the owner of the said account, a
foreigner by name Paul Wood died on the 4th of January 2002 in a plane
crash that occurred in Birmingham UK Since then,

nobody has done anything as regards the claiming of this money, as he has
no family member that has any knowledge as to the existence of either the
account or the funds and also Information from the National Immigration
also states that he was single on entry into the UK.

I have confidently discussed this issue with some of the bank officials
and we have agreed to find a reliable foreign partner to deal with. We
therefore propose to do business with you,

standing in as the next of kin of these funds from the deceased and funds
released to you after due processes have been followed. This transaction
is totally free of risk and troubles as the fund is legitimate and does
not originate from drug, money laundry,

terrorism or any other illegal act. On your interest, let me hear from you.

Treat Urgently

Regards,

Dr Fred John,

Anti-fraud resources: