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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: Sharon Kerr <sgtshake001@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2013 09:38:19 -0700
Subject: PLEASE I NEED YOUR GODLY ASSISTANCE!!!

Dear Sir,

My name is Dr. Sharon Kerr; I am an American trained doctor with
Syrian background, serving and attached in Syrian military with the
army's 3rd
infantry division. With a very desperate need for assistance, I have
summed up courage to contact you. I found your contact particulars in
an address
journal. I am seeking your kind assistance to move the sum of
(US$15,500,000M) Fifteen Million Five Hundred Thousand United States
Dollars to you, as far as I can be assured that my share will be safe
in your care until I complete my service here in Syria, this is no
stolen money, and there is no danger involved.

Source of money:

Some money in various currencies was discovered in barrels at a farm
house near one of president Bashar al-Assad palace in Mount
Mezzeh-Syria during a
rescue operation, and staff Sgt Abdullah Mohammed and I took part of
this money and shared it among both of us before informing anybody
about it
since both of us saw the money first agreed on it. This was quite an
illegal thing to do, but I tell you what, no compensation can make up
for the risk we have taken with our lives in this hellhole of which a
road side bomb killed Dr. Sadiq Usman my second in command last week.

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
contact working here and his office enjoy some immunity, I was able to
get the package out to a safe location entirely out of trouble spot.
He does not know the real contents of the package, and he believes
that it belongs to a British / American medical doctor who died in a
raid here in Syria, and before giving up, he trusted me to hand over
the package to his family in united states.

I have now found a much-secured way of getting the package out of
Syria to Kuwait or any country of your choice for you to pick it
up, and I will discuss this with you when I am sure you are willing to
assist me. I want you to tell me how much you will take from this
money for the assistance you will give to me. One passionate appeal I
will make to you is not to discuss this matter with anybody, should
you have reasons to reject this offer, please and please destroy this
message as any leakage of this information will be too bad for us
doctors here in Syria. I do not know how long we will remain here, and
I have been shot, wounded and survived two suicide bomb attacks by
the special grace of God, this and other reasons I will mention later
and that has prompted me to reach out for help, I honestly want this
matter to be resolved immediately, please contact me as soon as
possible as my only means of communication is through email.

MY PERSONAL EMAIL ADDRESS: sgtsharonkerr001@gmail.com

Your Sister,

Dr. Sharon Kerr.

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