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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: "Williams Didier" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <samuelelizabeth@cantv.net>
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:28:51 -0000
Subject: Marital Status

Hello,

My name is Mr Williams Didier a banker and manager of Audit & Accounts department in our bank. I used to be a personal account manager to late Mr. Gary Rios, our bank customer who was involved in the ill fated Kenya Airways crash in Africa. As his account officer, hearing the report of his death, I made many inquiries to trace the extended family relatives to come forward to claim their inheritance but my efforts were aborted. It was during one of my research I came across your email address and now decided to appoint you as the next of kin in order to claim the deposit with our bank which is at a summary of US$16 million.

I am giving you this vital and confidential information in order to make the deal with you and get the money into your bank as the recipient and beneficiary since you a foriegner giving you an advantage on coming into this matter. If you are ready to cooperate with me to get this fund, you will email me back with the necessary particulars below;

Your full Name,
Age, Sex & Marital Status,
Address with contact telephone and fax numbers.
to enable me introduce you to the bank as the new beneficiary/ recipient of the funds.If you can handlle this, reach me back urgently

Thank you for your anticipated cooperation

Regards,

Mr Williams Didier

Anti-fraud resources: