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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: "Susan Helms" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <susanhelms074@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 15 Oct 2016 10:22:52 +0545
Subject: Hello

Greetings to you, My name is Mrs Susan Helms , i am a UNITED STATE ARMY GENERAL USA, I hope this mail will find you well & healthy and I hope we can establish a relationship since we are meeting here for the first time,i have gone through a profile that speaks good of you on this site and I was impressed when i saw your profile and decided to communicate with you.I graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1979 , branched Infantry and began my career as a Rifle Platoon Leader , Company Executive Officer and Anti-tank Platoon Leader with the 3rd Battalion , 28th Infantry Regiment in Wiesbaden, Germany. I really want to establish a long term relationship with you after i have gone through your profile on the site , And my dear there is a reason why i choose to establish a relationship with you , i will use the opportunity to tell you all about myself . i will attach my picture letter .presently i am in Afghanistan at war zone for peace keeping mission due to the crisis here in Afghanistan.

Following attendance at the Infantry Officers Advance Course and the Special Forces Qualification Course, I served as a Battalion Adjutant and Operational Detachment Alpha (ODA) Commander in 1st Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Ft Bragg, North Carolina followed by assignments in the 82nd Airborne Division as commander of Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 505th PIR and as the Division G-3 Air Officer.

my dear i really want to establish a relationship like friendship and business partner that may lead to long term relationship or marriage in future after i have gone through your profile on the site, And my dear there is a reason why i choose to establish a relationship with you, i will use this opportunity to tell you all about myself. Honey presently i am in Afghanistan at war zone for peace keeping mission due to the crisis here in Afghanistan. Honey here in the military zone we are not allow to make use of mobile phone, we only make use of radio message and email communication from the camp, my dear i want to go into business partnership with you, as i don't know how long we will stay in the camp here for the rescue of the war.

I want you to know that we are being attacked by insurgents everyday and car bombs. During one of our rescue mission we came across a safe box that contain huge amount of money that belongs to the revolutionaries, which I believe they use it in buying weapons and ammunition's, and it was agreed by all parties in present that the money will be shared among us. Out of the total fund my share was $9,000,000 ( Nine Million US Dollars). I am seeking your assistance to evacuate my share of the money, which is $9,000,000 out of here to you, in as much as you can assure me that my own share will be safe in your care until I complete my service here. This is not stolen money, and there are no dangers involved.

My dear I have made arrangements with a UNITED NATION DIPLOMAT who promised to deliver the fund to any of my choosing destination. I shall be compensating you with 20% of the total fund on final conclusion of this project, while the rest balance shall be my investment capital in your country. One passionate appeal I will make to you is not to discuss this matter to a third party, if you have reasons to reject this offer, please destroy this e-mail as any leakage of this information will be too bad for me, due to my position as an army general.

I have chosen to contact you after my prayers and I believe that you will not betray my trust. Though you may wonder why I am so soon revealing myself to you without knowing you, well I will say that my mind convinced me that you are the true person to help me receive and invest the fund. I do not know how long we will remain here, and I have survived two bomb attack here, which prompted me to search out for a reliable and trustworthy person to help me receive and invest the fund in her country, because I will be migrating to your home to invest and start a new life not as a soldier anymore.

Conclusively,i wish you send me a reply immediately as soon as you receive this proposal. Your urgent reply will be highly appreciated. I hope my explanation is very clear but if you need further clarification, then send your questions, I wait to hear from you soonest.

Yours Faithfully

General Susan Helms.

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