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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: Kevin Roland <keroland03@yahoo.pt>
Reply-To: Kevin Roland <keviroland1@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2014 17:20:50 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: ARE YOU DEAD OR STILL ALIVE?


Good day my dear,
We received an email claiming you are dead and the bonafide owner has informed us for the claim of your funds which the auditors are still compiling the original documents for change of ownership. Please, note that if you did not give this notification urgent attention, the $5,750,000.00 that belongs to you would be transferred to the claimant's account by the United Bank for Africa (UBA) after receiving their transfer charge.
I am sending this brief message to let you know that if the new owner successfully provide the certificate of death which shows you don't exist any more then the funds will be successfully transfer or move to the claimant's appropriate location.
Your urgent response to confirm you are not death is needed asap, so that you can be advised on the next step to receive your funds ($5,750,000.00).
Yours Sincerely,
Mr. Kevin Roland.Head of Panel of Inquiries &Certified Government AgentCotonou, Benin Republic.Tel: +229-99 82 42 82.E-mail: keviroland3@gmail.com

Anti-fraud resources: