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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: "Miss Kelechi Ngama" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <ukasseyyy@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2016 05:42:09 -0500
Subject: Your Unpaid Funds.

I am Miss Kelechi Ngama. A computer scientist with central bank of
Nigeria. I am 26 years old, just started work with C.B.N. I came
across your file which was marked X and your released disk painted
RED, I took time to study it and found out that you have paid
VIRTUALLY all fees and certificate but the fund has not been release
to you. The most annoying thing is that they cannot tell you the truth
that on no account wills they ever release the fund to you; instead
they let you spend money unnecessarily.

I do not intend to work here all the days of my life, I can release
this fund to you if you can certify me of my security, and how I can
run away from this Nigeria if I do this, because if I don't run away
from this country after I made the transfer, I will be Seriously in
trouble and my life will be in danger. This is like a Mafia setting in
Nigeria; you may not understand it because you are not a Nigerian. The
only thing I will need from you to release this fund is a special HARD
DISK we call it HD140 GIG.I will need two of this hard disk to recopy
your information from the corrupted one, destroy the previous one, and
punch the computer to reflect in your bank within 24 banking hours.
Y
I will clean up the tracer and destroy your file, after which I will
run away from Nigeria to meet with you. If you are interested. Do get
in touch with me immediately, You should send to me your convenient
tell/fax numbers for easy communications and also re confirm your
banking details, so that there won't be any mistake. For phone
conversation, please call me on 234-807-676-6856

Regards,
Miss Kelechi Ngama

Anti-fraud resources: