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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: "LI KA SHING FOUNDATION" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <likashingfoundation45@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 04:18:20 +0530
Subject: DONATION FROM LI KA SHING FOUNDATION

 
My name is Li Ka Shing, a philanthropist and the founder of The HUTCHSON WHAMPOA LIMITED, CHEUNG KONG HOLDINGS AND
The Li Ka Shing Foundation One of the largest private foundations in the world.I believe strongly in ‘giving while living.’ I had one idea that never
changed in my mind — that you should use your wealth to help people and I have decided to
secretly give USD 1.9Million to randomly selected individuals worldwide. On receipt of this email, you should count yourself as the lucky
individual. Your email address was chosen online while searching at
random. Kindly get back to me at your earliest convenience, so I know your
emaiL address is valid. ( likashingfoundation45@gmail.com  ) Email me Read about my charities
(  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Ka-shing#Charities )
Warm Regards,
LI KA SHING.

Anti-fraud resources: