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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: iinfo832 <iinfo832@gmail.com>
Reply-To: iinfo77@yahoo.com
Date: Wed, 3 Sep 2014 08:42:47 -0700
Subject: Hello

*Hello Please bear these unsolicited contact with me, I need your
attention to discuss a very important but personal matter. I will just give
my name as Patrick Allen, and will for now say that I am a staff of
Canadian private security company stationed in Qatar, I will tell you more
when I consider it safe enough to share more. The referenced matter will
provide me and you an opportunity of having access to US$ 32.7 Million cash
in just a couple of days, with little or no risks or any form of
trouble/scandals either now or in future.I will send necessary details when
I receive your response with some assurances that you will protect my
identity and would be honest with me, I know you may be skeptical as you
hardly know me, so to cushion your fears, I volunteer to send adequate
proof of my identity that you can go ahead and confirm when we agree in
principle to work together. I hope to hear from you soon to discuss
this matter further. Best Wishes, Patrick Allen*

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