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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: "SIR ARNOLD BARNES" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <www.arnoldo.office@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 19 Jul 2019 14:46:14 -0700
Subject: Norfolk International Airport

Norfolk International Airport
2200 Norview Ave, Norfolk, VA 23518
Virginia, United States of America
Date: 25/04/2019.
 
Re: Expected Delivery on.
 
A shipment relating to you was withheld due to an undisclosed sum of money
in the trunk-cases. Actually, the content was not properly declared by the
correspondence as CASH rather it was declared as hardware power tools to
avoid Interrogation. The consignment has been taken into custody by the
airport authorities while the enclosed detail of the consignment with your
detail and the official documents from the United States Treasury from the
Homeland Security Department related to you was tagged on the package.
 
My name is Arnold Barnes, I work with the Norfolk International Airport,
Virginia as inspection personnel. I discovered your shipment at the airport
warehouse. I advise you to quickly furnish me with your name, home, and
mobile phone numbers as well as your address, to enable me to cross-check
if it corresponds with the address on the official documents. After which
you will confirm to me the name of the nearest airport around you to help me
locate you when bringing the shipment to you. Please note, this consignment
was supposed to have been taken to the United States Treasury Department as
abandoned and unclaimed delivery but due to the period of time, the
authorities mandated for the owner to come forward and claim the cargo the
shipment has since been left abandoned. The reason I made up my mind, to
contact you personally about this abandoned cargo was that I want us to
transact this business and share the money 80% for you and 20% for me since
the shipment has not yet been returned to the United States
reasury Department
 
I would appreciate you can work with me as your friend in helping you get
your shipment to your home as I would personally deliver the package to
asap. Trust me you cannot regret this deal. You can quickly reach me on
phone and my email (www.arnold.barnes@gmail.com) for further discussion.
 
Thank you.
 
Arnold Barnes
Norfolk International Airport
VA 23518, Virginia,United States

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