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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: "Joseph Shankah" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <josephshankah@hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2011 22:30:30 +0100
Subject: Urgent Message From Joseph

Dear Friend,

I am Joseph Shankah, a senior employee of the South Africa Ministry of Mining and Natural Resources, I am getting in touch with you regarding the Estate of a deceased client and an investment placed under our management years ago. The said investment was originally purchase by Mr. Lucio and leased to the Transvaal orange mining corporation in 1975.

Please contact me for more detailed information on the nature of the transaction, sharing ratio and the exact amount involved in this investment deposit on my private email address: (jbshankah@aim.com) OR (josephshankah@hotmail.com). Include your private telephone/fax number.

Yours Sincerely,
Joseph Shankah

Anti-fraud resources: