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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: "Mr. Ban Ki-Moon" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <u_nations3030@qq.com>
Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2017 00:57:31 +0200
Subject: Compensation Payment !

23-03-2017
ZENITH BANK COMPENSATION UNIT, IN AFFILIATION WITH THE UNITED NATIONS. Send a copy of your response to official email: unations743@gmail.com
Attn: Beneficiary,
This mail serves as a listening ear to the victims of scam all over the world. We have been having a meeting for the past 7 months which ended 2 days ago with the secretary general of the United Nations Organization.
This message is to all the people that have been scammed in any part of the world, the United Nations have agreed to compensate them with the sum of
US$350,000.00 This includes every foreign contractors that may not have received their contract sum, and people that have had an unfinished transaction or international businesses that failed due to Government problems etc. We have a database of victims and that is why we are contacting you.
This has been deliberated upon and is among our set of priorities in making the world a better place. You are advised to contact Mr.Jim Ovia, of ZENITH BANK PLC, as he is our representative in Nigeria, contact him immediately for your Cheque / International Bank Draft of USD$350,000.00 these funds are in a Bank Draft for security purpose. It will be sent to you and you can clear it in any bank of your choice.
Contact Mr. Jim Ovia immediately for your check.
Person to Contact Mr. Jim Ovia
Email: mrjimovia505@qq.com
Phone: +234-811-514-0252
Good luck and kind regards,
Making the world a better place
Mr. Ban Ki-Moon
Secretary (UNITED NATIONS).
http://www.un.org/sg/
 

Anti-fraud resources: