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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: "Samuel." (may be fake)
Reply-To: <info_info2015@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Mon, 16 Mar 2015 06:40:52 -0700
Subject: I am Master Samuel 17 years old, the only child of late Madam Biokov. A

I am Master Samuel 17 years old, the only child of late Madam Biokov. A gold exporter based here in Porto Novo for the past 13 years. Unfortunately, she died in the ill-fated plane crash Boeing 727 UTA flight that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean.
 
Before her untimely death, she made a fixed deposit totaling US$18 Million with a Finance Firm here, from the sales of Gold. The money is due for claim by 15th apir 2015, and should be claimed by the depositor or her next of kin else the fund will be confiscated by state government as unclaimed funds. This is why I decided to contact you to stand as a next of kin to my late mother since both of have the same surname, so that we can have this fund retrieved.
E-mail:info_info2015@yahoo.co.jp
 
Do reply immediately so that we can proceed.
 
Thanks and kind regards,
 
Waiting for your prompt response,
 
Samuel.

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