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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: "Dennis Wems" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <denniswems_liners1@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2012 08:41:12 -0800
Subject: Re:Your response will be appreciated.

Hello,
I am Mr. Dennis Wems, the managing/Audit Director of a financial firm here in Europe. In my department i discovered an abandoned sum ($12.9M) which belongs to one of our foreign customer whom i was his account manager.
I sent a routine notification to his forwarding address but got no reply.
After a month thereof, we sent a reminder but unfortunately we learnt that he died along with his entire family in Plane Crash in Thailand that Leaves 89 people Dead,
One-Two-Go Airline, which took place in PHUKET,Thailand.
Read more on: www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,296946,00.html and his supposed next of kin died along with him leaving nobody behind to claim the fund.

So in my capacity as the manager to his account i want to present you (a neutral foreigner) as the next of kin so that the Fund can be transferred to you, and can be shared among us,
else the fund will be pocketed by the selfish Government officials of my country so please get back to me for further details.

Best regards,.
Dennis.

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