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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: "Ben Obi" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <obiben69@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 2015 16:16:52 +0200
Subject: Hello Dear.

Hello Dear,

I am Barrister Ben Obi, a Solicitor, advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, and the Personal Attorney to Engr. Robert Chapman.

The reason for my solicitation is, I am interested in having you assist me in retrieving his money valued at several million that he left behind. My intent is to intercept this fund before it gets confiscated or declared unserviceable by the bank.

Should you be interested please furnish me with the below information, after which I will provide you with more details of this transaction and how to proceed.

1) Your full name and address
2) Your occupation and age
3) Your private/direct telephone number for easy communication

Please get in touch with me with the following email address: (obiben@yandex.com)

Thanks,
Barrister. Ben Obi

Anti-fraud resources: