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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: gayheart333@gmail.com (may be fake)
Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2010 15:53:46 GMT
Subject: Gayheart _E has sent you an invite!

Your friend, Gayheart _E, has invited you to join Alpha Friends at
http://www.alphafriends.org.

To become a member of Alpha Friends, click the link below or paste it
into the address bar of your browser.

http://www.alphafriends.org/invite/accept/cUoJSikt

----------
Good day and how are you today?

There is information I think might interest you. First kindly confirm
if you are the owner of this email address.

I am Mr. Gayheart Edem, I work with Barclays Bank. I do not know if I
am talking to the right person, But I will like you to confirm if you
are the owner of this email ID. Already I have your name and details in
our file in the office, but somehow I am not comfortable and too sure
that I am communicating with the right owner of this email.

That is why I did not mention your Name, if you can prove that you are
the owner of this email ID, then I will furnish you with the information
that I have for you, when I am convinced I am talking to the right
person and will proceed with you.

I am taking this preventive measure because I do not want to talk to
the wrong person because of the sensitivity of the information regarding
the issue.

Other details will be forwarded to you as soon as I am convinced that I
am communicating with the right person,

Get back to me as soon as you can so we can talk more about what we can
do,

Gayheart.

Anti-fraud resources: