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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: "William M. Barnett" <usarmyb52@gmail.com>
Reply-To: col.wmbarnett@terra.com
Date: Fri, 3 Aug 2012 22:21:25 +0100 (BST)
Subject: Good morning!




Good morning!

         From: Colonel. William M. Barnett

               AUGUST 03, 2012

Sir,

 I crave your indulgence for the unsolicited
nature of this mail, but it was borne out of desperation and current
development. Please bear with me.

 

I am William M.
Barnett, a member of the United States Joint forces (JBB) presently serving in
the Afghan capital Kabul. It’s my pleasure to inform you that I have appointed
you as my beneficiary to receive US$10 Million Dollars which I want to keep
safely in your account and or any overseas account under your supervision.

 

My desire and
purpose is to have you invest this US$10,000,000 in a profitable business and
retain the funds in your country until my retirement.

 

To enable us discuss
in detail, I would really want us to schedule a one on one live chat through
SKYPE or MSN (If you do not have a Skype account, please create one it’s free)

 

My Skype ID is; col.wbarnett

MSN/Yahoo
E-mail/Messenger; col.wbarnett AT msn.com

 

Thank you and I wait
expeditiously on your response.

 

   Respectfully,

Col. William M.
Barnett


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