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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: "Robert Mueller" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrpaulsmith3@mail.ru>
Date: Sat, 2 Apr 2011 20:05:09 +0200
Subject: FEDERAL BUREAU INVESTIGATION ...

ANTI-TERRORIST AND MONETARY CRIMES DIVISION
FBI HEADQUARTERS IN WASHINGTON , D.C,
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
J. EDGAR HOOVER BUILDING
935 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, NW WASHINGTON , D.C. 20535-0001
Website: www.fbi.gov
ATTN: BENEFICIARY.
This is to officially inform you that it has come to our notice as we had thoroughly completed an Investigation with the help of our Intelligence Monitoring Network System, which report confirmation stated that there are illegal transactions with you and some Impostors claiming to be Prof. Charles C. Soludo of the Central Bank Of Nigeria, Mr. Patrick Aziza, others are officials in Banks such as Oceanic Bank, Zenith Bank with other banks listed in our report, while some impostors claimed to be Federal Bureau Of Investigation Agents, and E.F.C.C Agent and ICPC Agent. Meanwhile, during our Investigation FBI realized the reason why you have not received your payment because you are been deceived by these imposters.
Moreover, we notice that you have not fulfilled your Financial Obligation in respect of your Contract/Inheritance Payment. Based on that FBI has contacted the Federal Ministry of Finance FMF on your behalf and they have brought a solution to your problem by coordinating your payment in the total amount of USD 8,000,000.00 USD which has been programmed with an ATM CARD, which you can use to withdraw your funds anywhere in the world. You now have the lawful right to claim your funds which has been programmed with ATM CARD.
With the Federal Bureau of Investigation involvement in this transaction, you are now be rest assured that this transaction is legitimate and completely risk-free, our duty is to Protect and Serve citizens of United States and other part of the world. Now I advise you to contact the ATM CARD CENTER via E-mail for instructions on how to procure your Approval Slip, which contains details on how to receive and activate your ATM CARD for immediate use of your funds being paid to you through ATM CARD. We have confirmed that the amount required to procure the Approval Slip will cost you a total sum of 325 USD which will be paid directly to the ATM CARD CENTER , Via Gram. Below you shall find contact details of the Agent whom will process your transaction from Federal Minister of Finance:
CONTACT INFORMATION
FEDERAL MINISTER OF FINANCE
ATM CARD CENTRE
NAME: MR. PAUL SMITH
EMAIL:mr.paulsmith3@yandex.ru
EMAIL: mrpaulsmith3@skymail.mn
Contact Mr. Paul Smith of the ATM Card Centre with your information as follows:
Full Name:
Mailing Address:
City:
State:
Nationality:
Direct Phone / Mobile Number:
Current Occupation and Your Age:
Once you have sent the required information to Mr. Paul Smith he will contact you with instructions on how to make the payment of 325 USD for the Approval Slip after which he will proceed towards delivery of the ATM CARD without any further delay. You are hereby been authorized/guaranteed by the Federal Bureau Of Investigation to commence towards completing this transaction, as there shall be NO delay once payment for the Approval Slip has been made to the authorized agent.
Once you have completed payment of USD 325 to the agent in charge of this transaction, immediately contact us back for more investigation for conformation of your ATM card. The both offices are working 24hours to get this project complete.
Robert S Mueller,
Executive Director,
Federal Bureau Investigation, FBI

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