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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: =?UTF-8?B?IkpvaG4gTSBEaWFsbG8i?= <canutos@terra.com.br>
Date:
Subject:



= Greetings!
Do accept my apologies if my message does not meet yo= ur personal ethics. I want to introduce myself and this business opportunit= y to you.
My names are John M Diallo, a banker with United Bank Of Afric= a [UBA]here in Benin.I wish to know if we can work together.
I would lik= e you to stand as the next of kin to my deceased client who made some depos= its to my bank worth 3.7 million GBP.(Three Million Seven Hundred Thousand = British Pounds Sterling) .
He died without any registered next of kin an= d as such the funds now have an open beneficiary mandate.
Fortunately, b= oth of you have the same last name so it will be very easy to make you beco= me his official next of kin.If you are interested you do respond to me on t= his email address(johndiallo001@yahoo.com) so that I can give you comprehen= sive details on what  we are to do, I urgently hope to get your respon= se as soon as possible.
Best Regards,
John Diallo

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