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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: "Williams Cole" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <coleway@excite.co.uk>
Date: Thu, 14 Oct 2010 18:48:57 -0700
Subject: Dear Friend

Dear Friend,

My name is Williams Cole; a staff of a well-known bank here in the United Kingdom.

It might interest you to know I have an urgent feasible business proposal inline with our mutual and economic interest that’s worth the sum of GBP15, 000,000.00 (Fifteen Million Great British Pounds).

Your anticipation will spur me to discuss at length, I await your anticipated response.

Best Regards,

Williams Cole
Email: coleway@excite.co.uk

Anti-fraud resources: