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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: "Sgt. Matthew Davio" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <barnet.desk@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 22 Sep 2015 02:46:41 -0500
Subject: Fighting for the world peace

I'm Sgt. Matthew Davio, an American soldier and spokesman to the US soldiers in Afghanistan. I seek your
assistance to move the sum of US$18,000,000.00 (eighteen million United State Dollars) for safe keeps.

While in Iraq we found some money in various currencies in barrels in a farmhouse near one of Saddam
Hussein's palaces in Tikrit during a rescue operation, and I got the above figure as my share. With the
help of a British security company operating in Iraq whose office enjoys some immunity, I moved in boxes
to a trouble free location and lodged them with a security company under the impression of "Personal
Valuables", not declaring the real contents to the security company. They believe (as were told) it belongs
to a British/American medical doctor who died in a raid in Iraq, and before giving up the ghost, trusted me
to hand over the package to his family in the United States.

The security company will assist us in moving the packages to you. I just sent them an email too to expedite
actions. I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate platform that will protect you from any
breach of the law as it is a 100% risk free venture. Kindly indicate your interest to assist by providing your
full names, your address, your cell phone number, your age and your occupation.

I need you to confirm to me your percentage or how much you will take for your assistance and for the
charity in your next mail to me, which should be as soon as you get this mail. I propose 20% for you, and
10% for charity. I honestly want this matter to be resolved ASAP.

God bless,

Sgt. Matthew Davio

Anti-fraud resources: