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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: "Ritchell Beck Brooklyn" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <sgt.ritchellbrooklyn@e-mail.ua>
Date: Sat, 9 Aug 2014 05:27:06 -0700
Subject: US ARMY IN NEED OF YOUR ATTENTION.

Dear Friend,

As you very well know, Iraq is gradually undergoing a rebuilding process in some parts and there is much need for reconstruction. My name is Ritchell Beck Brooklyn, from the hospitality state (Mississippi), presently I am working with batch of army contractors attached to the US Military force for the sole purpose of reconstruction in some parts of Iraq. The army contractors are here to evaluate the level of destruction and offer professional advice inline with the way they intend rebuilding. With no doubt, work has been risky and challenging as we sometimes collide head on with armed insurgents and loose some soldiers during confrontation.

On the early hours of 4th June 2014 I lost a friend whom I had known for 12years during one of these confrontations. It was a very sad day but at about 1100hrs during a normal inspection routine along one of Saddam Hussein`s old palaces and one of the hide outs of the Al Qaeda and Ayman al-Zawahiri forces. I, with 2 army contractors proceeded to mark a site as they commence evaluation under my close guard been the only soldiers available, I discovered an unusual bulge in a cellar, which I presumed to be storage room and as I proceeded to have a closer look at it, I kicked a metal covering and found several metal boxes (6 in number) Piled on top of each other and locked with a padlock. On forcing the boxes open, we discovered several armored weapons including bullets. One of the boxes was filled with hard drugs (heroine) and two to my amazement was filled with money. Though this is not the first time this kind of occasion is taking place here in Iraq.

On the discovery of this money, I and the army contractors for hours counted bundles of the currencies which amounted to about $23.5M. I believe however that all these belongs to the Al Qaeda and Ayman al-Zawahiri forces and ISIS, and because of this reason, we handed over all the boxes containing the drugs and amours to US army superiors while we decided to keep the funds to ourselves, so as to help establish ourselves when we return from Iraq. Presently, we have the money hidden in a safe and untraceable location only known to us.

Why I am explaining all our findings to you is to seek for your assistance and immense contribution to the actualization of our dream of getting these funds out from here. We are in desperate need of a reliable and trustworthy person who will receive, secure and protect these boxes containing the money for us until our assignment ends here. Since Iraq is getting unsafe and more dangerous everyday especially upon the departure of large number of US Military troop, but we cannot afford to leave these boxes here in Iraq for any reason and knowing fully well that these were funds used in sponsoring terrorist attacks on our innocent humans. We have no idea what could happen next. This is a true story of what we came across here in Iraq. I intend to include my ID's issued by the US army and government for you to know better whom you are dealing with but I will include that in my next email to you. I assure and promise to give you 25% of this fund before sharing with the other 2 army contractors when we leave this

My Sincere Regards,
Ritchell Beck Brooklyn.

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