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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: "Joshua Skelton" <info@sgt.com>
Reply-To: sgtjoshuaskton@live.com
Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2011 22:07:21 +0700 (WIT)
Subject: Details..

Good Day, I hope my email meets you well. I am in need of your assistance.
My name is Sgt. Joshua Skelton, American officer I am in the Engineering
military unit here in Libya; we have about $23 million Dollars that we
want to move out of the country. My partners and I need a reliable person,
someone we can trust. It is oil money and legal. We are moving it through
diplomatic means, to send it to your house directly or a bank of your
choice using diplomatic courier service. The most important thing is that
can we trust you? Once the funds get to you,you take your 25% out and keep
our own 75%. Your own part of this deal is to find a safe place where the
funds can be sent. Our own part is sending it to you. If you are
interested I will furnish you with more details. But the whole process is
simple and we must keep a low profile at all times.I look forward to your
reply and co-operation, and I thank you in advance.

Sincerely Yours
Sgt. Joshua Skelton



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