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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: peter smith <peter1841@live.com>
Date: Sun, 1 Dec 2013 15:11:39 +0000
Subject: GET BACK TO ME


Hello Friend,

Greetings to you and your family, I know this
message may appear to you as a surprise, but I request for your
understanding to acknowledge this proposal. My name is Sgt. (1st Class)
Peter Smith, I am an American soldier, serving in the military with the
Army's 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment in Kabul, Afghanistan, with a
desperate need for assistance, I found your contact particulars in an
address journal here. I seek your kind assistance to move to you the sum
of $5.7M (Five million seven hundred thousand US dollars) hence, I can
be assured that my share will be safe in your care until I finish my
service here.

Some money in various currencies was discovered in
barrels in a terrorists camp during one of our raids here in
Afghanistan. I and my crewmembers decide to split these currencies into
two; give one to the Government and then share the other half amongst
ourselves which the above amount is my own share of the money. We
decided to share this money amongst ourselves due to the series of
killings of NATO troops here in Afghanistan.

Conveying this money
out of this place became a barrier for me due to my active services in
the military. I have carefully packaged the money in a box, and have
made contact with a friend who is working with the air force under
UNITED NATIONS here in Kabul. He will assist me move the consignment out
of this trouble area down to Europe, where it will be deposited with
one of the United Nations SECRET SECURITY VAULT in Europe as a
diplomatic luggage. I told him that the luggage belongs to one of the
doctors that died on raid here but before he gave up he pleaded me to
make sure the luggage gets to his family. He will deposit the
consignment for safe keeping and to make contacts for its proper use.

Therefore
I need someone I can work with on trust, which is why Im contacting
you. If accepted I will put you forward as the beneficiary/owner of the
funds (consignment) and then the consignment will be deposited on your
name as the beneficiary and the United Nations will deliver the box to
you anywhere in the world. I just need your acceptance and all is done. I
have 100% assurance that you will surely receive the box without any
hitch; every arrangement will be made to proceed to your country for the
delivery. I am willing to offer you 30% of the total sum when the money
is delivered to you.

The only telephone access we have here is
radio message which is for our general use and is being monitored;
therefore all communication will be via email till we finish our
assignment here. 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 soldiers here in Afghanistan, I
really want this matter to be resolved immediately, please contact me as
soon as possible via my email address which is my only means of
communication.

Regards,

Sgt. Peter Smith.

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