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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: "Mr. Godwin Emefiele" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrgodwinemefiele@mail.kz>
Date: Mon, 13 May 2013 15:00:18 +0200
Subject: FROM ZENITH BANK

 
ATTN: B E N E F I C I A R Y,
How are you doing? Well this is to let you know that we Z e n i t h B a n k Management has today concluded loading your f u n d s U S D$7.5M into your A T M Master Card and will be sending it to you as soon as we receive this following information below to enable us know where we are sending it and to avoid the card missing on transit, so we need this information as soon as possible.
1} your full name/address & Country
2} A copy of your identification
3} your direct telephone number where we can get you when needed
Again, we will immediately commence with the sending of your A T M Debit Card as soon as we receive this information because your card is ready as we communicate with you through this media and we need to send it to you as soon as possible.
 
Have a nice day while we will be waiting to hear from you soon including the required information just as we have requested because your card is ready and we need to send it to you, so be fast please.
 
Your Sincerely
 
Mr. Godwin Emefiele

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