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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: "Sgt. Clifford Wiggins" <sgt.cwiggins@us.af.mil>
Reply-To: <sgt.clifforwiggins@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2012 19:25:33 -0000
Subject: 12/15/12, reply today

I HOPE THIS FINDS YOU IN BEST OF HEALTH. MY NAME IS SGT. CLIFFORD WIGGINS, AN AMERICAN SOLDIER, PRESENTLY WITH THE ARMY’S 3RD INFANTRY DIVISION HERE IN AFGHANISTAN, WITH A VERY DESPERATE NEED FOR ASSISTANCE. I AM SEEKING YOUR KIND ASSISTANCE TO MOVE THE SUM OF US$12,000,000.00 (TWELVE MILLION UNITED STATE DOLLARS) TO A SECURE LOCATION.

SOURCE OF MONEY:

SOME MONEY IN VARIOUS CURRENCIES WAS DISCOVERED IN BARRELS AT A FARMHOUSE NEAR ONE OF SADDAM HUSSEIN'S OLD PALACES IN TIKRIT-IRAQ DURING A RESCUE OPERATION, THE ABOVE FIGURE WAS GIVEN TO ME AS MY SHARE, AND TO CONCEAL THIS KIND OF MONEY BECAME A PROBLEM FOR ME, SO WITH THE HELP OF A BRITISH SECURITY COMPANY WORKING HERE AND HIS OFFICE ENJOYING SOME IMMUNITY, I WAS ABLE TO GET THE PACKAGES OUT TO A SAFE LOCATION ENTIRELY OUT OF TROUBLE SPOT AND LODGED THEM IN THE VAULT OF THE SECURITY COMPANY UNDER THE IMPRESSION OF “PERSONAL VALUABLES”.

THE SECURITY COMPANY DOES NOT KNOW THE REAL CONTENTS OF THE PACKAGES, AND BELIEVES THAT IT BELONGS TO A BRITISH/AMERICAN MEDICAL DOCTOR WHO DIED IN A RAID HERE IN IRAQ, AND BEFORE GIVING UP, TRUSTED ME TO HAND OVER THE PACKAGE TO HIS FAMILY IN UNITED STATES.

BUT WITH THE PROPOSED PLAN TO END COMBAT OPERATIONS AT THE END OF THIS YEAR BY PRESIDENT BARRACK OBAMA, TO END THE SUICIDE BOMBING AND MAKE PEACE WITH IRAQ MILITANT AND TERRORIST, I DECIDED TO MOVE THIS MONEY TO YOU FOR SAFEKEEPING. BELIEVE ME; IF YOU WERE IN MY BOOTS AND YOU CAME ACROSS SUCH AN OPPORTUNITY, U'D DO THE SAME SHIT.

THE SECURITY COMPANY WILL ASSIST US IN MOVING THE PACKAGES TO YOU. I JUST SENT THEM AN EMAIL TOO TO EXPEDITE ACTIONS

I GUARANTEE THAT THIS WILL BE EXECUTED UNDER A LEGITIMATE PLATFORM THAT WILL PROTECT YOU FROM ANY BREACH OF THE LAW AS IT IS A 100% RISK FREE VENTURE.KINDLY INDICATE YOUR INTEREST IN ASSISTING A FELLOW AMERICAN BY PROVIDING THE BELLOW INFO.

YOUR FULL NAMES------------------
ADDRESS, -----------------
YOUR CELL PHONE NUMBER----------
AGE------------------
YOUR OCCUPATION ----------

I NEED YOU TO CONFIRM TO ME YOUR PERCENTAGE OR HOW MUCH YOU WILL TAKE FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE AND FOR THE CHARITY IN YOUR NEXT MAIL TO ME, WHICH SHOULD BE AS SOON AS YOU GET THIS MAIL. I PROPOSE 20% FOR YOU, AND 10% FOR CHARITY. I HONESTLY WANT THIS MATTER TO BE RESOLVED ASAP.

GOD BLESS,

SGT. CLIFFORD WIGGINS

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