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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: "Lary Brown" (may be fake)
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2010 08:32:56 -0800
Subject: Next Of Kin !!

Dear Friend
I am Lary Brown, an attorney at law. A deceased client of mine , that shares the same last name as yours died as the result of a heart-related condition on March 12th 2005. His heart condition was due to the death of all the members of his family in the tsunami disaster on the 26th December 2004 in Indonesia. And in the record there is no known successor to this deposit of the deceased who died without a will.
I can be reached on larybrown@rediffmail.com for more information. My late Client has a deposit of Seventeen Million Five hundred Thousand Dollars ( US$17.500,000) left behind.
Best regards,
Lary Brown
Attorney AT Law
 

Anti-fraud resources: