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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: "JOHN MARK" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <johnmark1000john@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Fri, 9 Apr 2010 15:50:07 +0100
Subject: INVESTMENT 84.232.180.168

Hello

My Name is Dr Mark John. I am contacting you for an advice on how I can invest some fund under your care. The fund is a proceed from the sales of crude oil allocated to me while in office as an Adviser to the Oil Company.
I
f this matter interest you, quickly forward your relevant retails , Full Name, Contact Address, City, State, Post Code, Home Phone Number, Cell Phone Number.
Note that I am under pressure to move the fund. Please reply to my alternative email Address johnmark00john@yahoo.com.hk

Sincerely

Dr John Mark

Anti-fraud resources: