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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 EZEH" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <johnezeh1@hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2011 14:58:22 +0100
Subject: Re,

Attn: Sir/M,
I am the Special Adviser on Petroleum/Crude Oil Allocation to the Late Musa
'Yar Dua the President of Federal Republic of Nigeria,before his death the
President has instructed me to allocate a Oil Block Allocation to the tune
of $85M to a private account which was deposited in a blank beneficiary
account name omitted, Any foreign name can be presented to the paying banks
for the payment which will be accepted by the bank,provided the person must
not be a Nigerian citizen.
We intend to use this money for real estate business in the United State of
America or any profitable business you may wish to advice us upon.
If you are interested kindly indicate your interest.
Thanks,
Engr, John Ezeh

Anti-fraud resources: