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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: "Veronica Garcia" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <centeraw@voila.fr>
Date: Sun, 12 Feb 2012 01:33:47 +0100
Subject: Be Informed,,

Hello,
I have written to you severally, you did not reply, are you ready to receive your fund?,you may be thinking, am one of those making things difficult
for you.Take note I am not, I contacted you to help you with your problem concerning receiving your fund which has been outstanding for a very longtime now, reply my email with these information below to enable me authenticate it with what is on your
file here.

1) Your full name
2) Your Address
3) Your Occupation
4) Your Phone Number


I wait for your message.

Yours Sincerely,
Veronica Garcia

Anti-fraud resources: