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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: "Ivan Todd" <info@usarmy.mil.gov.org>
Reply-To: col.ivantodd@aol.com
Date: Tue, 23 Feb 2021 08:12:49 -0800
Subject: CONFIDENTIAL: Important Confirmation Letter from United States of America
!!!!


Dear Friend, I hope this email will find you in high spirits and good h=
ealth. Many internet swindle have been igniting the fear of doing online =
business real for fear of dealing with the wrong person, I would like to le=
t you know that this email is not one of them, can I trust you also to do t=
his business? Please I want you to read this message carefully and I will=
give you all the evidence that will show you that I am real. How is your=
news? Please carefully read my email. I am Ivan Todd, 45 years old, from=
Austin Texas, USA but I live in a military cantonment in Houston Texas, I =
completed a training program and a physical education course AT Fort Bliss =
ordering U.S. Virginia. Is 2nd Lieutenant and a Protocol officer. My battle=
s and infantry are well-trained. I have a difficult childhood. I lost paren=
ts when I was very small, and my son and the only single child. I never kne=
w my biological parents or any relationship because my parents WERE nationa=
lized in the US. I was adopted by Mr. Eugene Lee Scott, and his wife Rose, =
may his soul rest in peace Amen. They also died. Moderate about the peace=
keeping forces deployed to Kabul, Afghanistan of Iraq. CAN YOU BE TRUSTED? =
If you are up-to-date, you may hear world breaking news in Iraq some time=
ago, about THE USA ARMY storming the place and making this invention hande=
d OVER to the U.S. head, to this day no one is giving a description about i=
t. You can read more about this here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle=
_east/2967029.stm I have to attach my images to prove what I am going to =
tell you to keep them confidential. Last time we went for inspection in the=
terrorist hiding, we found a bag FILLED WITH US DOLLAR and other currencie=
s, my group and I returned it back to the base, our head, told us that they=
would do so report it to the right office for investigation and to date we=
don't hear something about the money anymore, and I feel they must have sh=
ared it among themselves, so after a day Next I went to take note of the ot=
her items in the truck found from the terrorists hiding, I noticed they hav=
e other bags right inside the side of their tanker truck, I say glory to my=
God, I took the bag, and hid it in a safe place, after a few days, I decid=
ed to count the money in my room. The amount is huge, $12.6 million us doll=
ars, I smile. If you assure me, honesty, sincerity, I will make plans how=
to move it from Afghanistan to your address as a precious military family,=
which I will get (M.N.I.F.V. T) Non Military inspection Family Valuable TA=
G with UN tag and tag on the box for delivery to avoid that open body, so f=
ar have un tag and family Non-valuable military inspection tag. When it cam=
e to your address. You will take $5 million us dollars and save $7.6 millio=
n US dollars until I get out. If you are interested and assure me of your=
sincerity, come back to me in my personal email: col.ivantodd@aol.com I =
await your immediate reply to allow us to continue. Yours respectfully, C=
olonel Ivan Todd

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