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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: It cost <itcostcourierofficeinfo@gmail.com>
Reply-To: chasebanktexassunitedstates@superposta.com
Date: Tue, 6 Mar 2012 09:05:01 -0800
Subject: ARE YOU ALIVE OR DEAD

Hello
I am writing to confirm if you are DEAD or ALIVE and failure to reply back
in the next 24hrs simply means what Rev Patrick
Larry said on 24/03/2011 was right that you are dead. Rev Patrick Larry has
agreed to pay the needed fund valued at $175.00US
Dollars required for the Bond Stamp Duty Fee of your Atm Card, but we have
not gotten the money from him yet as we want to
find out if you are truly dead or not, so if you are still alive you are
advice in your own best interest to reply back
immediately.
The only money you will pay to our office is US$175.00 for the paper works,
Once we receive your mail we can stop further
communication with Rev. Patrick Larry, and deliver the ATM CARD to your door
step being the original beneficiary of the said
US$700.000.00.
Beside if you fail to comply with the needed US$175.00 required there’s no
way we can deliver the ATM CARD and we will
confirm that Rev. Larry, is saying the truth, if you are Alive kindly comply
with us immediately so that we can deliver your
ATM CARD to you without any more delay and have Rev Larry reported to the
International Police for arrested for attempting
Fraud.
Looking forward to hearing from you if you are still very much alive, reply
back for fast action so that your delivery will
commence upon receipt of your payment, as soon as I hear from you, I will
advise you where to send the 175.00usd
Regards,
"Mr. Gorge Kanu
(ATM Payment Centre)"
Contact me on my private E-mail: davipaulz@yahoo.com

Anti-fraud resources: