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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: "Bernhardt Betty" <help@fashiongo.net>
Reply-To: srgtbernhardt@aol.com
Date: Sat, 16 Mar 2019 01:17:45 -0700
Subject: Please I Need Your Help

Hello,

Good day to you, how are you doing? My name is Bernhardt Betty. I am a U.S. Marine Specialist, serving here in Syria. I found a box containing the sum of $25,000,000.00 USD (Twenty Five Million United States Dollars) due to my status as a U.S. Army Specialist, I would not be able to transfer this funds to my account in United States. I need your help to evacuate this funds and also keep it until I finish my service here in few weeks and come get my share of it. The box will be addressed as family valuables from me to you. If this is possible for you to do, I need your assurance that it will be safe in your care. You may be wondering why i decided to communicate with you, I have no one to discuss this with. I am an orphan. I am alone with no family. Please assist me to secure a brighter future. Trusting someone is very difficult, but i give you my trust and my word, and also i need your trust to make this a success. Your acceptance to this would really encourage me. Kindly let me know your conclusion to my request so we can proceed to get this completed as soon as you can. With a sincere heart, i am willing to give you 35% from the total sum for your assistance and willingness to help me. Please do not betray my trust and confidence in you. If you truly accept to help me, please reply me quickly.
srgtbernhardt@aol.com

Anti-fraud resources: