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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: "Leong Chai" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <barr.chaioffice@sify.com>
Date: Thu, 4 Feb 2010 22:08:02 +0800
Subject: Kindly Respond Immediately

SOLICITORS OFFICE
EMAIL:barr.chaioffice@sify.com

I am Leong Chai, A deceased client of mine who shares the same last name as yours, died of a heart-related Condition and this was due to the death of all his family members in the tsunami disaster on the 26th December 2004 in Sumatra Indonesia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake.You can reach me on (barr.chaioffice@sify.com) for more information as my late Client has a deposit of (Eighteen Million Dollars) left behind.

Best regards,

Barr Leong Chai

Anti-fraud resources: