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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: "ANDY LAU" <admiin@floridachest.com>
Reply-To: andylau224@yeah.net
Date: Sat, 07 May 2016 04:55:59 -0400
Subject: GOOD NEWS

ATTENTION,

I am very happy to inform you that the Bank of China has approved the sum of $10.5m to be transferred into your account but because this fund was approved from the world bank United, Kingdom, your information appears here on the telex screen but there are a couple of persons claiming to be authorized by you to receive this fund on your behalf.

However, after going through the file at our office, we realize that you are the right owner. These imposters have changed some of the information we have here so we would like you to reconfirm your information so that we do not make any mistake in the transfer.

1- Your full name

2- Your direct phone number(s)

3- Your home or office address

4- Your banking information

5- A copy of either your international passport or personal id.

I wait to hear from you.

Regards,


Andy Lau

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