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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: "Steve" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <otionprm@aol.com>
Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 14:50:54 +0200
Subject: From Steve Lu

I AM MR. STEVE LUCAS FROM JOHANNESBURG SOUTH AFRICA I AM THE BRANCH MANAGER ONE OF A COMMERICIAL BANK HERE IN SOUTH AFRICA. I GOT YOUR CONTACT FROM YOUR EMAIL DATE BASE SITE.

ONE OF THE WHITE FAMERS IN ZIMBABWE DEPOSTED CASH OF $21MILLION IN OUR BANK SINCE 10 YEARS AGO, NO ONE HAS COME FOR THE MONEY TILL NOW, JUST TO FOUND OUT THAT THE MAN IS AMOUNG THOSE WHITE FARMERS, THAT WAS KILLED BY PRESIDENT ROBERT MUGABE MEN.

I JUST NEED YOUR INTEREST TO PARTNER WITH US TO CLAIM THIS MONEY OTHERWISE IT WILL BE CHANNEL TO GOVERNMENT PURSE AS UNCLAIM BILL.

I AM WAITING FOR YOUR REPLY THEN I CAN BE ABLE TO GIVE YOU MORE DETAIL.

Email: stevelucaspvt@mail.ru

Anti-fraud resources: