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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: "REV MARK BLESS" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <rev.markbless04@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 7 Jan 2014 07:32:19 -0800
Subject: SCAM VICTIM COMPENSATION

WORLD BANK ASSISTED PROGRAMME
DIRECTORATE OF INTERNATIONAL
PAYMENT AND TRANSFERS.
DEBT RECONCILIATION/AUDIT UNIT
United Nations Headquarters,
New York, NY 10017, USA
YOUR REF: WB/NF/UN/XX028 UNITED NATIONS.
 
Greetings
 
We were authorized by the newly appointed United Nation Secretary General, and the Governing body of the United Nations Debt Reconciliation Unit, to investigate the unnecessary delay on your payment, recommended and approved in your favor. During the course of our investigation, we discovered with dismay that your payment has been unnecessarily delayed by corrupt officials of the Bank and Government regulatory organs in Nigeria who are trying to divert your funds into their private accounts.
 
This is to bring to your notice that we are delegated from the UNITED NATIONS in HSBC To pay 50 victims from your country who has being Victims of Internet scam .The United Nations has decided to pay you $8,500,000 USD (Eight Million Five Hundred Thousand United State Dollars) each. You are listed and approved for this payment as one of the scammed victims to be paid this amount in this Christmas period, get back to this office as soon as possible for the immediate payment of your $8,500,000 USD compensation funds. We have been having a meeting for the past Seven months which ended Three days ago with the former secretary to the UNITED NATIONS.
 
This email is to 50 selected people that have been scammed or extorted money from because of your contract payment execution in any part of the world, the UNITED NATIONS have agreed to compensate them with the sum of $8.5 MILLON USD This includes every foreign contractors that may have not yet received their contract sum, and people that have had an unfinished transaction or international businesses that failed due to Government problems or irregularities etc. We found your email in our list and that is why we are contacting you, this has been agreed upon and has been signed by the United Nations Board of Directors and Trustees from the WORLD BANK ASSISTED PROGRAMME.
 
We sent you series of emails in this regards but you did not respond back to us; However, in the course of our routine securitization into our Dispatch Alert, we discovered that the document of your fund is intact and very much available and we have attach the scan copy of your Atm Card along with this email for you to view it before REV. MARK BLESS send it to you, For our information, note that United Nations Board of Director have sign your Atm Card in the favor of your name and hand it over to REV. MARK BLESS Chief Protocol Officer, Dispatch Unit to send it to you, you have to contact REV. MARK BLESS in charge of your Atm Card, as he is our UNITED NATIONS representative in UNITED STATE and AFRICA region, contact him immediately for your Cheque $8.5.MILLION USD, This funds are in a Atm Card for security purpose. He will send it to you and you can clear it in any bank of your choice.
 
Contact information:
 
REV. MARK BLESS
Chief Protocol Officer,Dispatch Unit.
Email: (rev.markbless04@gmail.com)
Direct Telephone line: +2348108177196
 
As soon as you establish a contact with him, ensure that you provide your present address as below to the contact in other for the Officer to effect the change and Re-direct the parcel to your home address.
 
FULL NAME:
ADDRESS:
PHONE NUMBER:
INTERNATIONALPASSPORT/ DRIVERS LICENSE
 
We expect your urgent attention to this email to enable us monitor this payment effectively.
 
Most importantly you shall be requested to pay the sum of $100(Only) by REV. MARK BLESS as the Delivery fee of your Atm Card. Once you contact the Office, please request delivery option from him in other to avoid further delay.
 
Sincerely yours
Faithfully,
 
Secretary-General United Nation
BAN KI MOON
UNITED STATE OF AMERICA
http://www.un.org/sg

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