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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: "Chris Howard." (may be fake)
Reply-To: <chrishoward6262@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2017 11:33:48 -0700
Subject: I await Your Promt Response,

Compliment of the day, I got your contact information from a reputable business/professional directory of your country, he gave me assurance of your legibility as a person . My name is Chris Howard, an account officer with H.S.B.C Bank. I am humbly sending you this brief letter to solicit your partnership to transfer Eleven Million (11 000 000 US Dollars) to your bank account in your country. I shall furnish you with more info when I get a positive reply from you. Reply me Via this same E-mail if you are interested. Thank you for your time .
Chris Howard.

Anti-fraud resources: