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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: Mr.James Knight <unoffinig@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: <usembassybe2@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 17:13:01 +0100
Subject: US Ambassador to Benin Republic


Without mincing words, I am convinced 100% that you have had bitter
experience with various 'scammers' claiming to be high government
officials and thereby defrauding you of your 'hard-earned money'. The
actitivies of these scammers has changed your perspective about
conducting business on the internet, and you now believed there is no
genuine business that can be conducted on the internet. Well, I am an
American and the internet was created by Americans for the purpose of
creating awareness for your products/services and conducting genuine
business with ease. I am fully committed to deliver the "diplomatic
consignment" to you in the United States in order to differentiate
myself from the many Benin Republic you have dealt with. I am a full
citizen of the United States, but I was on a Foreign Mission here in
Benin as a US Ambassador. Hence, I am making every efforts to ensure
that no citizen of the United States is cheated by Benin Repulic.
Therefore, I need your utmost support and understanding to actualize
this dream. I also want you to understand that I do trust you and I
expect you to show me the same trust and respect in return since trust
is a 2-way street. On the other hand, trust is a relationship of
reliance. Trust also means being able to predict what other people will
do and what situations will occur.

Trust is both an emotional
and logical act. Emotionally, it is where you expose your
vulnerabilities to people, but believing they will not take advantage of
your openness. Logically, it is where you have assessed the
probabilities of gain and loss, calculating expected utility based on
hard performance data, and concluded that the person in question will
behave in a predictable manner. In practice, trust is a bit of both. I
trust you because I have experienced your trustworthiness by merely
believing in what I have said, even when you have not seen me, and
because I have faith in human nature.

Frankly speaking, I
understand that anyone in your shoes will feel betrayed, but I still
want you to show me your trust by giving me the benefit of doubt on this
delivery arrangement. My identity and personality is verifiable, and I
promise to deliver the consignment to you in the United States without
any hitch. Please do not allow this mission to die off because of
$107.00 dollars. I meant so well for you and I believe you will
appreciate me more when you have finally received your partial payment
of $6.5 million dollars upon my arrival with the package in United
States. I will use my position and personality to deposit the $6.5
million dollars into your bank account in the United States without
questioning from the financial monitoring authourities, since all
documentations proving the legitimacy of the funds has been processed.

Please
don't see me as one of the numerous dubious Benin republic you have
dealt with in the past. I am a different person entirely and I come from
a different continent. I have the American spirit in me and I hate
cheaters.

I promise to always uphold the national unity of the
United States. Please reply back asap and let me know your possibility
of sending the $107.00 dollars today.

Respectfully yours,

Mr.James Knight Emails:usembassybe2@gmail.com
US Ambassador to Benin Republic

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