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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: ibrahim suleiman <ibrahimsuleiman100@virgilio.it>
Reply-To: ibrahimsuleiman999@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 22:22:48 +0100 (CET)
Subject: REPLY ME


Attention:

It was resolved after the Board meetings today by the foreign
Remittance office to release all outstanding payment waiting for
transfer as we begin the first fiscal payment of the year.We are here
to bring your notice that your US$10.5M has been approved.Update us with your full information.
Get back to us asap for more details.
Thanks,
Ibrahim Suleiman
Due Process Unit.
REPLY ME

Anti-fraud resources: