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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: Karl Mahmood <karlmahmood@protonmail.com>
Date: Sat, 07 Dec 2019 16:09:49 +0000
Subject: CONFIDENTIAL,



--
Greetings,

My name is Karl Mahmood, I work with Barclays Bank London Plc, there is
an account which has been dormant for over a period of years worth
Fifteen Million Dollars.

After proper investigations on the account I discovered that the owner
of the account is dead and he did not specify/mention any next of
kin,this is how top Bank officials enrich themselves and I want to
utilize this opportunity very well.

I want to use my power to present you to the Bank as the next of kin to
the said account to enable us handle this transaction and share the
funds as soon as we conclude successfully, 50% for me 40% for you, 5%
will be set aside for any expenses that might occur in the process of
retrieving the funds, we will use 5% to do charity work and support the
needy.

Be rest assured that this transaction will be handled properly and
necessary legal steps will be taken,kindly revert to me by introducing
your self so that we can proceed.

Hoping to read from you soon.

Thanks,

Karl Mahmood.

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