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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: Taylor Williams <williams_taylor@live.com> (may be fake)
Date: Fri, 27 Aug 2010 15:24:59 +0100
Subject: Hello



Hello,

Do accept my sincere apologies if my mail does not meet your personal
ethics. I
am writing following an opportunity in my office that will be of immense
benefit to both of us. One of our accounts with holding balance of £15,100,000
(Fifteen Million One Hundred Thousand British Pounds Sterling) has
been dormant
and has not been operated for the past 8 years.

From my investigations and confirmations, the owner of this account a
foreigner
(Concorde pilot) died in Monday, 31 July, 2000 along with other 109
families in
an AF4590 plane crash and since then nobody has done anything as regards the
claiming of this money because he has no family members who are aware of the
existence of neither the account nor the funds.

I have secretly discussed this matter with a staff the bank and we have agreed
to find a reliable foreign partner to deal with. I only have to approve you as
the next of kin/will beneficiary and the fund will be paid to you as the
beneficiary. We are to share this money between ourselves and also donate 10%
to charity if you are really interested in this offer you should contact me.

Regards,

Taylor Williams

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