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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: =?UTF-8?B?IlNVQiBXRVNUIg==?= <franzanbarahona@speedy.com.ar>
Date:
Subject:

 


hallo liebe . wie geht es Ihnen heute, ich habe versucht, = eine E-Mail Sie =C3=BCber Ihre E-Mail-Adresse in geraumer Zeit, verlor ich = alles, was in den Prozess der Neuformatierung meines Computers zum Gl=C3=BC= ck meine Sekret=C3=A4rin gefunden Ihre E-Mail-Adresse f=C3=BCr mich, die ic= h bin mir sicher war, von Ihnen so i versuche diese E-Mail-Adresse und Sie = dar=C3=BCber informieren, dass die Transaktion wir zusammen spitzte durch G= ottes unendliche Gnade endlich geklappt inzwischen habe ich nicht vergessen= , Ihren bisherigen Bem=C3=BChungen und versucht, mich bei der =C3=9Cbertrag= ung dieser Mittel trotz, dass es gescheitert unterst=C3=BCtzen uns irgendwi= e so m=C3=B6chte ich Sie, meine Finanzberater in Benin kontaktieren, sein N= ame ist John Green und seine E-Mail-Adresse ist wie folgt: mrgreenner@hotma= il.com er wird Ihnen die Gesamtbank=C3=BCberweisung von Euro 250.000,00, di= e ich f=C3=BCr Ihre Ersatz ausgestellt senden alle bisherigen Bem=C3=BChung= en und Versuch, mich in dieser Angelegenheit zu unterst=C3=BCtzen i sch=C3= =A4tzen Ihre Bem=C3=BChungen in dieser Zeit sehr viel, das ich hatte Anweis= ung, ihn in Ihrem Namen weitergeleitet, so z=C3=B6gern Sie und erhalten Sie= in Ber=C3=BChrung mit ihm und ihn anweisen, wo die Bank=C3=BCberweisung an= Sie senden ohne Verz=C3=B6gerung nach den Bankangestellten die Bank Entwur= f wird innerhalb von vier Bankarbeitstagen klar auf Ihr Konto zu sein Sie Z= eichnung das Bankscheck an Ihre Bank, ich habe auf einigen Gesch=C3=A4ftspl= =C3=A4ne in Asien werde ich weitere Informationen zu haben, wenn ich zur=C3= =BCckkomme gearbeitet, durch dann trete ich mit Ihnen zu kommunizieren, so = dass wir ein paar Zeilen gerade heraus kann die Liebe, Gnade und Gunst Gott= es auf euch ruhen bekommen kann und ich danke Ihnen,

Hello dear .      how are  you= today ,i have tried emailing you through your e-mail address in quite some= time ,I  lost everything in the process of reformat my computer fortu= nately my secretary found your email address for me which i'm sure was from= you so i'm trying this e-mail address as well to inform you that the trans= action we were pursing together finally worked out by god's infinite mercy&= nbsp;     meanwhile, i didn't forget your past efforts = and attempts to assist me in transferring those funds despite that it faile= d us somehow  thus i want you to  contact my financial adviser in= benin  , his name is Mr. Green  and his email address is as foll= ows : mrgreenner@hotmail.com   he will   send you the t= otal bank draft of euro 250,000.00 which i issued for your compensation for= all the past efforts and attempt to assist me in this matter  &n= bsp;    i appreciated your efforts at that time very much&nb= sp; i  had forwarded instruction to  him  on your behalf so = feel free and get in touched with him  and instruct him where to send = the bank draft to you  without any delay according to the bank officia= ls the bank draft will be clear into your account within four banking days = you tendered the bank draft to your bank      i ha= ve been working on some  business plans in Asia i will have more info = when i come back, by then i will communicate with you so we can get a few m= ore lines straightened out  may the love, grace and favour of god rest= upon you and me     thank you, Susan .

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