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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: "CHRISTOPHER PHILIPS" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <christopherphilips21@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 18:57:34 -0400
Subject: PLEASE GET BACK TO ME

Good Day,
 
I presumed that all is well with you and your family. Please let this proposal not come to you as a surprise, because we haven't met before. My name is  Christopher Philips, I'm an employee of a bank  here in London. I am also a member of an Ad hoc committee recently set up by the British Government to look into growing number of dormant accounts in UK banks due to deaths of customers, with a view to finding ways of locating relatives of the dead customers.  I have a business proposal for you.
 
Regards,
Christopher Philips.

Anti-fraud resources: