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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: "Thomas James"<thomas.james.sr4uonly@mail.com>
Reply-To: <thomas.james.sr4uonly@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 24 Sep 2015 19:26:13 +0200
Subject: Beneficiary

Dear Beloved,

May this note find you in good health and high vibration, Thomas James is my name, a British/ Portuguese national. I have been diagnosed with Oesophageal cancer which has defiled all forms of medical treatment. I have only about a few months to live. I presently have cash worth $8.5M (Eight Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) in two trunk boxes deposited with an UNDISCLOSED (for security reasons security vault company base in Europe. I want to solicit with you to assist me in claiming these trunk boxes. I am ready to reward you with 30% of the total amount for your honestly, while the rest funds goes to a Charity.
I have decided to give part of my fortunes to a charity organization. I cannot do this myself anymore because of my health.
At a point in time, I had once asked members of my family to assist me with my wishes, at the end of the day; they refused and kept most of the money to themselves.
I will like you to acknowledge the receipt of this e-mail as soon as possible and treats with absolute confidentiality and sincerity.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Regards,
Thomas James

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