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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.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: Collins Wayne <admin@amazonaws.com>
Reply-To: <waynecollins@linuxmail.org>
Date: Sat, 5 Aug 2017 19:03:06 -0400
Subject: U.S Department of Treasury !!!

U.S Department of Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue,NW
Washington, DC 20220
 
Attn:
 
This is to bring to your notice that the US Department of Treasury in affiliation with the office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has been authorized in their sanction programs to compensate 1,000 scam victims who has been a victim of Internet scam. The US Department of the Treasury has decided to pay you the sum of $500,000.00 USD (Five Hundred Thousand United State Dollars) each in order to restore the global economy to the enviable standard of respectability.
 
 
Your particulars were mentioned by one of the syndicate who was arrested as one of the victim of their operation. You are hereby warned not to communicate or duplicate this message to him or her for any reason whatsoever as the US SECRET SERVICE is already on the trace of the other criminals.
 
I shall be coming to your state for an official meeting and I will be bringing your funds of $500,000.00 USD (Five Hundred Thousand United State Dollars) I am a us government agent and I have the veto power to go through customs. Provide me with your address. (Send your cell phone number and the address where you want me to bring the package). You have really paid so much in this delivery that makes me wonder. You are a very lucky person because I shall be bringing it myself and there is nothing anyone can do about it.
 
Your $500,000.00 USD (Five Hundred Thousand United State Dollars) must be registered as an ambassadorial package for me to defeat all odds and the cost of registering it is $205 usd . The fee must be paid in the next 30 hours.
 
This development is coming now that the ministry wants to offset all your outstanding payments to all our legal foreign beneficiaries around the world in which your payment file was affected. As you may know.
 
 
Upon your email we shall process more and take note I am on a tight schedule.
 
My flight is Tuesday this week and I expect you to comply before then so that the delivery can be completed. If you do not comply, then it will not be my fault if you do not receive your package.
 
U.S Department of Treasury,
Senders Collins Wayne,
Scam Victim Payment
 

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