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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: "FIFA SOCCER LOTTERY AWARD" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <joe.addams@webmail.co.za>
Date: Sat, 1 May 2010 21:01:39 +0200
Subject: FIFA 2010 SOCCER LOTTERY AWARD!!!


Attached here are details of your winning Kindly contact the claims agent for your payout.

Congratulations once more on behalf of the lottery Board

Best Regards

Mrs. Helen Mathew
Lottery Director

Anti-fraud resources: