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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: "Sgt.Wilson Johnson" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <sgtwilsonjohnson@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 25 May 2014 13:10:22 -0400
Subject: Hello

Hello
I’m sorry for any inconveniences this email will cause you. My name is Sgt.Wilson Johnson, I’m an American soldier presently in Afghanistan, I was formerly in Iraq we were later redeployed to Afghanistan.
I want to quickly inform you in confidence that I’m worth $25million dollars .This is the money we realize from late Sadam Hussein’s loot. We are very few in number that was involved in this deal and my own share is $25million dollars in $100 dollar bills.
Presently, the money is in a safe plays pending when I see a trust worthy partner that will be willing and ready to assist me receive this funds, the money is in a trunk box totaling $25million dollars in cash. I am planning on using a diplomatic means to ship the funds to you if you are willing and ready to assist me and also reassure me that you will not disappear as soon as you have cash consignment in your possession.
I want to crave your indulgence to please help me with this great transaction even though it came to you on a platter of Gold, I understand story like this is hard to believe considering the fact that too many scam is going on, on the internet every day.
I want you to consider my proposal and get back to me and if you are not interested please delete the email at once. If you are sure you really want to do this, I will suggest you send me the following stated below for further directives.
1. Full name
2. Home address
3. Occupation
4. Direct telephone number ( cell phone )
5. A scanned copy of your ID
I want you to understand that I cannot handle this huge sum of money due to the nature of my job and also the fact that I’m still serving in the Army and as you may already know we are not allowed to receive or send money outside Afghanistan. Please be very discreet with this whole transaction for security reasons because if there is any leakage not only will I be dismissed from the Army am also going to do time and I do not want that to happen.
Lastly, I will give you 2-3 days to think about it and if I do not hear from you I will have to find someone else.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Regards,
Sgt.Wilson Johson

Anti-fraud resources: