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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: "Ramon Akitani" <raymondakitani@bizcollections.org>
Date: Fri, 9 Aug 2013 09:55:37 +0100
Subject: Re: Important

Re: Important,

My name is Ramon Akitani, I have emailed you earlier without a response. In my first letter I mentioned about my deceased client whose family I can not come into contact with, but you share the same last name as his and I feel it will be very easy to introduce you to the bank here as his next of kin for the bank to transfer his balance in your favor for us to share the proceed.

He had deposited the sum of nine million five hundred thousand  before his death. The bank here has requested me to present a beneficiary if there is, or the estate will be revert to the government and so it would be lost.

My I am soliciting for your consent to be presented to the bank here for this role so that documentation can be processed and payment in your favor. If you are interested please get back to me through my email address (akitani1414@hotmail.com).



Sincerely,
Ramon Akitani

Anti-fraud resources: