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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: "Mr. Christian Berta" <atm290094@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mrchristianberta98@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 5 Mar 2022 10:07:25 +0100
Subject: Re: Your Abandoned Package For Delivery

Mr. Christian Berta
Interim Assistance General Manager,
(Operations,Maintenance,Transportation)
Cotonou International Airport
Republic Of Benin.

Re: Your Abandoned Package For Delivery

I have very vital information to give to you, but first I must have
your trust before I reveal it to you because it may cost me my job, so
I need somebody that I can trust for me to be able to reveal the
secret to you.

I am Christian Berta, head of luggage/baggage storage facilities
(Operations,Maintenance,Transportation) here at Cotonou International
Airport Benin Republic.

During my recent withheld package routine check at the Airport Storage
Vault, I discovered an abandoned shipment from a Diplomat and when
scanned it revealed an undisclosed sum of money in a Metal Trunk Box
weighing approximately 110kg.

The consignment was abandoned because the Contents of the consignment
was not properly declared by the consignee as MONEY. Rather it was
declared as personal effect to avoid interrogation and also the
inability of the diplomat to pay for the Certificate of Legality
Charges which is $3,700 USD. On my assumption the consignment is still
left in our Storage House here at the International airport Benin
Republic till date. The details of the consignment including your
name, your email address and the official documents from the United
Nations office in Geneva are tagged on the Trunk box.

However, to enable me confirm if you are the actual recipient of this
consignment as the assistant director of the Inspection Unit, I will
advise you to provide your current Phone Number and Full Address, to
enable me cross check if it corresponds with the address on the
official documents including the name of nearest Airport around your
city. Please note that this consignment is supposed to have been
returned to the Benin Republic Treasury Department as unclaimed
delivery due to the delays in concluding the clearance processes so as
a result of this, I will not be able to receive your details on my
official email account. So in order words to enable me cross check
your details, I will advise you send the required details to my
private email address for quick processing and response. Once I
confirm you as the actual recipient of the trunk box, I can get
everything concluded within 48 hours upon your acceptance and the fund
should proceed to your address for delivery.

Lastly, be informed that the reason I have taken it upon myself to
contact you personally about this abandoned consignment is because I
want us to transact this business and share the money 70% for you and
30% for me since the consignment has not yet been returned to the
Benin Republic Treasury Department after being abandoned by the
diplomat, so immediately the confirmation is made, I will go ahead and
pay for the Certificate of Legality Fee of $3,700 dollars and arrange
for the box to be delivered to your doorstep to avoid any more trouble
but you have to assure me of my 30% share.

I wait to hear from you urgently if you are still alive and I will
appreciate if we can keep this deal confidential. Please get back to
me via my private Email (mrchristianberta98@gmail.com)for further
directives.

You can call me on my telephone number or send a text message.

Thank you.
Christian Berta

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