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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: "Mariam" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mariambaby2011@live.co.uk>
Date: Sun, 10 Jul 2011 08:32:38 +0300
Subject: Hi

Hi

How are you? i hope all is well with you, i hope you may not know me, and i
don't know who you are, My Name is Miss Mariam a good looking girl,lovely,
caring with good understanding and honesty, i am just broswing now i just saw
your contact it seams like some thing touches me so i became interested in
you, l will also like to know you the more,and l want you to send an email to
my email so l can give you my picture for you to know whom l am.I believe we
can move from here!
I am waiting for your mail to my email address
(Remeber the distance or colour does not matter but love matters alot in life)
miss Mariam

Anti-fraud resources: