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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: Maureen Carlos <wimfobn@virgilio.it>
Reply-To: vicent_private3@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2011 14:17:41 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: YOUR BANK DRAFT


The fund has finally been moved abroad. In appreciation, I wrote on your favor a BANK DRAFT worth US$800,000 as a compensation for your financial support. Contact Vincent Mike via E-mail: ( vicentmike4@gmail.com ) for the release of your BANK DRAFT
Regards,
Maureen Carlos

Virgilio body {margin:0;padding:0;} #footer { height:13px; font-size:11px; font-family:Arial, FreeSans, sans-serif; color:#ADADAD; text-transform:uppercase; margin:0; padding:7px 12px; border-top:1px solid #dcdcdc; }#footer a { text-decoration:none; color:#ADADAD; }#footer a:hover { color:#848484; }#footer .pipe { padding:0 5px; } PRIVACY - COPYRIGHT TELECOM ITALIA 2011 - PARTITA IVA:00488410010 - NOTE LEGALI - WEBSITE INFO

Anti-fraud resources: