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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: John Walton <williamdavidrobert7@gmail.com>
Reply-To: johnkwalton@mail.ru
Date: Sat, 19 Jul 2014 16:56:49 -0700
Subject: Top Secret

Hello Sir/Madam,

I am a captain commanding 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment with the
United States Army and Britain Coalition Force in Afghanistan

Due to the decision by our Government to withdraw our troops, I have
decided to quit the Army and relocate to a country and on this basis I am
actively looking for investment opportunities in a country. I am looking at
a possibility of doing business with your company that is why I contacted
you. On the other hand I want to inform you that I have in my possession
the sum of $15.2million (US Dollars) which was recovered from one of our
raids on terrorists here in Afghanistan in the heat of battle.

I do not intend handing this money over to the Government so I have
deposited this money with a Red Cross Agent informing him that we are
making contact for the real owner of the money. It is under my power to
approve whoever comes forth for this money.I wish to use this money in an
international trade company business and I choose this department because i
know it is a lucrative venture, that was the more reason I decided to
resign and come over to your country once I move this money out of here
through diplomatic courier service which is the safest means.

I really don't want to die fighting terrorists all my life. I cant wire
this money to the States as troops are limited to using Army sanctioned
remittance services and that will draw serious attention.

I need someone I could deal with. If you accept, I will transfer the money
to you, making you the beneficiary because I am a uniformed person and i
cannot be parading such an amount so I need to present someone as the
beneficiary. I am an American and an intelligence officer as such I do have
ways of transferring the money through diplomatic courier service. I just
need your acceptance and all is done. Please if you are interested in this
transaction I will give to you the complete details you need for us to
carry out this transaction successfully. I decided to find someone that is
real and not imaginary and that is why i went to a secured site where I can
be sure that the person is real.

I believe I can trust you. Where we are now we can only communicate through
our military communication facilities which are secured so nobody can
monitor our discussions, then I can explain in details to you. I will only
reach you through emails, because our calls might be monitored, I just have
to be sure whom I am dealing with. Also I want you to know that am
revealing this deal to you with belief that you will never let me down in
this business, you are the first and the only person that I am contacting
for this deal, so please reply urgently so that I will inform you on the
next step to take urgently. If you are interested please reply me
immediately so I can contact you for further inquiries.

I am writing from a fresh email account so if you are not interested do not
reply to this email and please delete this message, if no response after
3days I will then search for someone else. I am doing this on trust, you
should understand and you should know that as a trained military expert I
will always play safe in case you are the bad type, but I pray you are not.
$15.2million is a lot of money which is the dream of anyone.I wait for your
contact details so we can go on. In less than 7days the money should have
been noted on your care and I will come over for my money.

I will give to you 30% of the sum and 70% is for me and we would both
invest on your business as I think its profitable. I hope I am being fair
on this deal. Please reply to my email address at once:johnkwalton@mail.ru

Regards
Col. John Walton

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