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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: "States Trust Bank" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mygodline11@w.cn>
Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2011 23:04:47 -0700
Subject: RE: URGENT INQUIRY

STATES TRUST BANK PLC The world's local bank
1 KINGSTON AVENUE, LONDON,
EC2V 5DD, UNITED KINGDOM
TEL: +447031956889
FAX: +447024024847
ATTENTION: SIR,
HAVE YOU TRANSFER YOUR FUNDS IN OUR BANK BECAUSE YOUR ACCESS CODE PASSWORD IS CHANGE? INFORM ME AND PROVIDE YOUR ONLINE USERNAME TO VERIFIED ON DATABASE IF YOUR FUNDS IS STILL AVAILABLE.
YOURS,
MR.TONY JAMES

Anti-fraud resources: