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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: "Sgt. G. Carson" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <g.carson25443@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2018 17:56:54 -0000
Subject: FAVOUR

Compliments of the seasons to you, i am indeed sorry for intruding your privacy, but I implore you to give me a minute of your time to go through this message carefully.
 
I am Sgt. G Carson, in 4th Battalion, 64th Armored Regiment unit. We Patrols the Helmand province, Afghanistan. I am in need of an assistance that's why I have summoned courage to contact you.
 
With due respect, i need your assistance to evacuate a sum of $2.5m (Two Million Five Hundred thousand United States Dollars) to you for safekeeping until i will be through with my service here in
Afghanistan to meet with you.
 
We discovered some money in a barrels at a location in Helmand province where we conducted a foot patrol and it was agreed by all colleague that the funds be divided among us. This might appear as an illegal thing to do but I tell you what? No compensation can make up for the risks we are taking with our lives in this service.
 
The above figure was given to me as my part and to conceal this kind of amount became a problem for me while still here in Afghanistan, so with the help of a Canadian contact working with the UN here (his office enjoys some immunity) I was able to get the funds out to a safe location entirely out of trouble spot.
 
Moreover I have now found a secured way of getting the money out of Afghanistan because i do not know how long i will remain here because of duty call to different location at any given time. This and other reasons put into consideration have prompted me to reach out for help if it might be of interest to you.
 
I wait to see your response so that we can begin the delivery processing immediately. Please I urge you to be discreet about this information. Thank you.
 
Respectfully,
Sgt. G Carson
United States Soldier:Afghanistan

Anti-fraud resources: