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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: "Mr. Timothy F. Geithner" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <barr.billbrown@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 24 Oct 2013 14:43:55 -0400
Subject: RE: DEPARTMENT OF INT'L AFFAIRS

DEPARTMENT OF INT'L AFFAIRS
(Office of the Under Secretary)
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue NW,
Washington D.C. 20220.
barr.billbrown@gmail.com

Urgent Attention,

I am Mr.Timothy F. Geithner, Under Secretary for International Affairs of the United States Treasury Department and was sworn in as the 75th Secretary of the United States Department of the Treasury in a ceremony attended by President Barack H. Obama, and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., see below: http://www.treas.gov/organization/bios/geithner-e.shtml

Following series of complains from Citizens of the United States as well as Citizens of Other Countries In Europe over the Discrepancies and fraudulent ways in which fund transfers are handled by Africans which has made it impossible for a lot of People to claim their Winning or Inheritance funds from most African Countries due to frauds and illegal activities, A decision was reached recently by the United States Treasury Department under the authority of the White House to compel African Financial bodies (Banks) to urgently release all funds of American and European citizens that are trapped in most Banks and Courier Companies in Africa. It was discovered that some bureaucratic bottlenecks was put by these Banks and Couriers to make it impossible for beneficiaries to claim their funds so that they will fraudulently divert those funds to their private accounts.

Consequent upon the aforementioned, I was personally mandated to handle this matter to ensure that all funds of our Citizens and others which are fraudulently being trapped in African Banks are urgently retrieved and paid to the actual Beneficiaries under a legal manner. Our team of experts were delegated to Benin Republic, Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Ghana for this task and we discovered your File NO: BR227/9005666/00 as unclaimed fund.It was discovered that officials of the Bank has only put up illegal requirements in order to make it difficult for you to claim your fund.The United States Department of Treasury has retrieved all Files of illegal transactions and we will be working under a legitimate arrangement to ensure that you follow the normal process to receive your fund.

You are requested to Re-confirm the following information to Barr. Bill Brown by e-mail: barr.billbrown@gmail.com

1. SURNAME.............
2. OTHER NAMES......................
3. PHONE NUMBER AND FAX.................
4. ADDRESS...................
5. AMOUNT TO BE CLAIMED: $36.500,000.00 USD
6.OCCUPATION.............
7.COUNTRY...........
8.AGE............
9.Contact Emailaddress............

Be informed that the above information will only enable us to make due confirmation. We shall ensure that normal process is followed to ensure that your fund gets to you without delay.Contact Barr. Bill Brown who is right in Benin Republic/Nigeria as the Legal Practitioner to United States Department of Treasury e-Mail below: (email: barr.billbrown@gmail.com )

Warm Regards
Mr. Timothy F. Geithner
(Under Secretary)

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