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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: =?utf-8?Q?H=20M=20TREASURY=20UK?= <kennethhappenmaka@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2018 16:08:02 +0100
Subject: =?utf-8?Q?Hello=20SIr=2fMa=2c=20Matter=20Of=20Urgency=2c=20Awaiting=20Your=20Response=20ASAP=2e?=

HM Treasury Unit 1, Horse Guards Road, London SW1A 2HQ, United Kingdom Dear Sir/Ma, In the cause of updating of our tax system and the current tax reform initiated by the new team of Her Majesty Treasury. We came across your payment file. We refer to your fund which has been pending for transfer to your bank account for a very long time but was placed on hold by the former Secretary to the treasury. It was uncovered that Her Majesty Treasury placed your funds on hold because of your inability to meet up with payment of tax accruing to the British government, and suspected activities of some corrupt officials. It is on record that one Mr. Herbert Friesland claimed that you authorized him to receive your funds on your behalf due to your ill health. He was in company of a lawyer believed to be your representing attorney. Please confirm if you authorized them to claim your funds. Meanwhile, Your payment file has been validated and reconciled. we need you to confirm your banking details to enable us instruct one of our accredited paying banks to credit your account and debit our reserve account. Please confirm the above and get back to us. Sincerely yours, Kenneth Happenmaka, >From The Office of The Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss Chief Secretary to the Treasury

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