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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: "Sgt. Matthew s. tezo" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <sgt.matt.s.tezo@rocketship.com>
Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2015 03:52:43 -0700
Subject: GOOD DAY

Dear,

Thank you so much for your response,I am a war veteran with the United
Nations troop in Iraq on war against ISIS terrorist group,and very
sorry if my email came to you as a surprise,but i assure you that this
is no kind of hoax email.I want to inform you that I and my partner
(Trooper James Anthony Leverett) have the sum of 16.2Million USD which
we discovered near one of the destroyed oil refineries in Iraq during
this our current battle with the ISIS.And unfortunately my partner was
killed by an explosion while on a vehicle patrol at the time both of
us were on the verge of mutually agreeing and deciding what to do with
this amount. Due to this incident,i have packaged the cash (which is
in one hundred dollar bills) as a consignment and have already
discussed and convinced a Spanish Red cross official who has agreed to
help me move the consignment to Europe from where it will be safe to
deliver to my family members. Meanwhile he agreed to assist due to i
made him believe the consignment contains just some personal
belongings of my late partner that his family wants back. I have
packaged the consignment in a safe box with code so there is no way
the consignment can be unlock without the code i used in locking
it.The Spanish official has agreed to help me and deposit the
consignment with the United Nation delivery services under a family
member's name.And at the moment my only two relatives i have alive are
battling drug issues and i can not trust them with this valuable
consignment.So please as a result of this,i want you to receive these
funds on my behalf as far as I can be assured that my share will be
safe in your care until I complete my service here Iraq and come over
to meet with you. Since we are working here on an official capacity, I
cannot safely keep these funds hence my contacting you.

I guarantee and ensure you that this is a risk free deal. I also
wantyou to know that the consignment has now been successfully moved
out to Europe with the help of the Red Cross/UN agent i mentioned
earlier.I just need your acceptance to help me receive these funds and
all is done. Since the death of my partner, my life is not guaranteed
here anymore, so I have decided to share the funds with a reliable and
trusted person than the funds being kept in the Red Cross agent's
house,and the most risky part of it all is that the Red Cross agent
does not even know the real content of the consignment.

I want you to tell me how much you will take from this money for the
assistance you will give to me. one passionate appeal I will make to
you is not to discuss this matter with anybody, should you have
reasons to reject this offer, please and please destroy this message
as any leakage of this information will be too bad for us as soldiers
here in Iraq. I do not know how long we will remain here, and I have
been shot, wounded and survived so many suicide bomb attacks
thankfully, this and other reasons I will mention later have prompted
me to reach out for help, I honestly want this matter to be resolved
immediately, please contact me as soon as possible for us to proceed
immediately without any more delay thanks and God bless you.

Regards,

Sgt. Matthew S Tezo

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