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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: Rajin Ramnarine <rajinr12@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: Rajin Ramnarine <rajinnr12@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2013 01:13:28 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Manila Trip........Terrible Situation


Good morning,
  I Hope you get
this on time. I'm very sorry to bother you with my troubles but I'm in
some terrible situation right now and need your urgent help, I know I
didn't mention anything about it to you but we are in trouble right now.
 
I'm
stranded in Manila City, Philippines and need your help getting back
home. I made a trip down here this past weekend but unfortunately for
me, I was robbed at gunpoint at a taxi park. Everything I had on me
including my phone, credit cards were all stolen, It was a terrible
experience to go through but looking on the bright side, I wasn't
seriously hurt or injured and I'm still alive which is the most
important thing. The good thing is that I still have my passport but I
just don't have enough money to sort my hotel bills and travel back
home.
Unfortunately for me, I can't have access to funds without my
credit card since the robbers have my card now, I've made contact with
my bank but it would take at least a week to get a new one to me. Please
I would really appreciate if you could help me out here. I was
wondering if you could help me with a quick Loan and I promise to refund
you as I get back in two days time. All I really need is about $2,550
but if the whole amount can't be covered, I would gladly appreciate any
amount you can put in to help. Western union is the best way to get the
funds to me. Please kindly let me know if this is possible so that I can
provide my wiring details needed to make the transfer. Looking forward
to hearing from you, I will check my email every 30 minutes for your
reply because it's the only way i can reach you.
 
Thank you
Antony Ramnarine

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