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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: "Sean Hanks" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <seanrhanks@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 16 Sep 2017 00:43:36 +0200
Subject: I need your consent

Good day,

My name is Captain Sean Hanks, an American soldier serving in Syria, I have an important matter, which I would like to discuss with you in what follows;

Due to the current war in the country Syria now, many families are running for their dear lives and I do not intend to stay behind with my family. Well, I want to bring to your notice that I have the sum of ($5,500,000 dollars) which I got from crude oil deal here in Syria, I deposited this money with a Finance company here, and I have secured this money in a box before depositing it with the Finance company vault as Research materials & Personal Effects., Now due to the current war in the country The only thing I Require from you is just for You to help me move the money out of syria Because syria is a war zone and as a uniform man I can not parade with such amount.

Please reconfirm the following and I shall give you more details about this proposal.

Your full name:..............
Your private phone number:..........
Your full address:.............
Country:.................
Age and occupation:.............

Best wishes,
Sean Hanks

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