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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: "E.Mbeki" <info@caspaiou.com>
Reply-To: e.e.mbeki@aim.com
Date: Fri, 29 Nov 2013 17:35:48 -0500
Subject: Seeking parthnership (Urgent)


Dear Friend, I write to seek your urgent help. I am a banker, working with =
a reputable bank here in South Africa. We have carried out a project for th=
e construction of the Goliath Gold mining firm East Rand of Gauteng Provinc=
e of South Africa since 2005 including the reconstruction of the gold mine =
in Limpopo province, to the Amount of $450. Million United States Dollars. =
The projects has successfully come to an end. After paying our contract act=
ors, since I am the head of the payment department of my bank, I realized t=
hat there is an extra balance of $78.000.000 Million United states dollars =
pending. This amount nobody nor any of my staff knows about this. I seek fo=
r your support to enable me transfer this money through your company accoun=
t. I will put your company in our register as if you did part of the job an=
d then will be able to transfer the money over to you. I am contacting you =
to help secure the money in your country. We can use the money to start up =
any lucrative business investment your find interesting e.g. housing and al=
so invest part of the money in your company. I have promise to reward you w=
ith 40% of the total sum for your help while 5% will be set aside for any e=
xpenses that might be incurred in the process. There is no problem in this =
transaction, you have to trust me. Please contact me urgently if you can do=
it. You can write me through my private email address: e.e.mbeki@webmail.c=
o.za Once I hear from you, I will send you more details. I wait to hear fro=
m you urgently. Sincerely yours E.E. MBEKI=20

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