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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: "Welter Martins" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <weltermartins12@hotmail.com>
Date: Sun, 10 Apr 2011 14:34:17 -0700
Subject: Greetings

Greetings,
I want to invest with you, I have $65 Million US dollars that I want to move out secretly for investment purpose in your country but I need a good partner I can trust. This fund is legal. The owner is late Haiti business man died in earthquake without any trace of relatives. But the question is can I trust you when the funds get to you? You will take your 30% for the
assistance and keep the remaining for us in a safe custody.Get back to Weltermartins@gmx.com
Welter Martins
From London

Anti-fraud resources: