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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: Peter Gardner <hgdffbnfff@yahoo.pt>
Reply-To: Peter Gardner <barpetergardner@ymail.com>
Date: Sat, 15 Nov 2014 08:32:41 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: I NEED YOU AS AN INVESTOR IN BUSINESS AN FAMILY MATTERS


 
Dear Sir, Ma
Permit me to inform you of my desire of going into business relationship with you; I know you would be surprised to read from someone relatively unknown to you before now. I need you as an investor to represent me to get my inheritance package containing some amount of money from a Storage Facility in Europe.
Its entails traveling, meeting people of different race and culture, sharing business ideas, you will be meeting the Company's representatives in person...This means you will be traveling. 
All expenses while retrieving this fund would be from your side but you will be reimbursed immediately you get the funds into your custody...After this we would use fund for any business project created by your ideas for further development in the society. 
All I require from you is your honest and maximum co-operation which this transaction deserves you will personally be compensated with 50% of (USD15M (Fifteen Million U.S.Dollars). Therefore, on receipt of your positive response I can assure you that this transaction will take only Seven (7) days to be completed hence, I will require you to provide me with the following:
1. Your Full Name2. Your Contact Address3. Your Occupation / Position & Age4. Your Mobile and House Telephone Number5. A copy of your Driver's License or your International Passport.
I beg you I know there are many scams going on but this is not one....if you are too busy that you cannot travel and you want to be part of this project that means you will have to solicit for a way for the consignment to be brought to you at your own expense...I need someone that can travel or that can handle matters maturely...Please I am contacting you because I believe you are reliable and can handle business matter maturely without any panic.
NOTE: There is no room for Doubt...You will be meeting the parties involved in this transaction one on one. We will not entertain any onesitting in his country expecting money to grow legs or wings to fly and come to his doorstep without any legal measures taken.
WARNING: If you are not ready to make expenses do not contact...
PLEASE, THIS TRANSACTION REQUIRES TOP CONFIDENTIALITY.
Regards,PETER GARDNER

Anti-fraud resources: