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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: "Agent John Edward" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <agent.john_e003@superposta.com>
Date: Tue, 5 Nov 2013 04:50:11 +0200
Subject: FBI ALERT NOTICE

Federal Bureau of Investigation
Field Intelligence Unit
J. Edgar Hoover Bldg.
935 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington, DC 20535,
USA.
 
Urgent Attention: Beneficiary,
 
I am special agent John Edward from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Field Intelligence Unit. We have just intercepted and confiscated two trunks at John F Kennedy International Airport in Jamaica New York, NY 11430 coming from a foreign country.
 
We crosschecked the content of the boxes and found it contained a total sum of $4.1 million dollars. Also with one of the trunks were documents with your name as the receiver of the money. As we progressed in our investigations of the Diplomat which accompanied the trunks into the United States we learned that he was to deliver these funds to your residence as payment of an inheritance/winning, which was due to you.
 
Further checks on the consignment, we found out that the consignment paperwork lacked the PROOF OF OWNERSHIP CERTIFICATE AND LEGAL DELIVERY PERMIT CLEARANCE CERTIFICATE forms. We then confiscated both trunks and released the Diplomat. The trunks According to section 229 subsection 31 of the International ,Commerce Regulators Code Enforcement Guidelines, your consignment lacks PROOF OF OWNERSHIP CERTIFICATE AND LEGAL DELIVERY PERMIT CLEARANCE CERTIFICATE from the joint team of the Federal Bureau Of Investigation and Homeland Security and therefore you must contact us for direction on how to procure the two certificates, so that you can be relieved of the charges of evading tax which is a jailable offense under section 12 subsection 441 of the Tax Code. We will also be asking the IRS to launch an investigation of money laundering if you do not follow our instructions.
 
You are therefore required to contact me within 72 hours on this email {agent.john_e0077@superposta.com} at that point I will walk you through the process of clearing and claiming the money. Failure to comply may lead to your arrested, interrogation and/or you being prosecuted in the Court of Law for tax evasion and or money laundering. You are also advised not to contact any bank in Africa, Europe or banking institution.
 
Yours in service,
 
Agent John Edward,
Regional Director
Federal Bureau of Investigation
E-mail:agent.john_e0077@superposta.com

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