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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: from Helen <babyj@itimes.com>
Reply-To: "helenwilliams14@yahoo.com" <helenwilliams14@yahoo.com>
Date: Sat, 6 Aug 2011 04:52:49 +0530 (IST)
Subject: [SUSPECTED SPAM] HI DEAR FRIEND

My name is Helen, good day and how are u with hope you are good over there in your country
you may be surprise how i get your mail, i got your profile / mail to day when i was browsing looking for a good and honest one for my life partner and became interested in you
i will like you to send a mail to my email address so i can give you my picture for you to know whom l am.Here is my email address (helenwilliams14@yahoo.com ) i believe we can move from here.I am waiting for your mail to my email address above. Helen.(Remeber the distance or colour does not matter but love matters alot in life)
Please rpely me with my email address here.(helenwilliams14@yahoo.com )
yours to be
Helen williams

Anti-fraud resources: