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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: "soan" <soan4love@yahoo.co.uk> (may be fake)
Date: Sat, 14 Aug 2010 06:48:25 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: Hello

Hello dear,

Good day and how are you,i got your contact on my search today for a
good and honest friend,and i decide to write you,i really hope that
we can get to know each other,am new her seeking for the right
friend.

you shall know more about me.My name is soan am 5.3 fit tall, i will
like to hear from you soon to exchange pictures i believe we can
make good friends,let distance or age not be a barrier to
connect,because love is a bridge that connect
far distance
soan

Anti-fraud resources: