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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: Mrs Maryam Harriet <jerzy.a.kotarski@neostrada.pl>
Reply-To: maryamharriet@mail.com
Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2011 09:35:00 +0800
Subject: My Last Will

I am Mrs Maryam Harriet and I got your contact on net when I was searching for someone
I want to Will my money to. Please I have Willed the sum of $5,000,000.00 to you which is
the only money left in my account right now. If you want to know why I have willed this
money to you and you want this money to be transferred to you, please get back to
me as soon possible in this regard.

Awaiting Your Swift Response.

Mrs. Maryam Harriet

Anti-fraud resources: