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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: "FROM BARRISTER JOHAN MEYER" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <meyerjohan17@yahoo.com.cn>
Date: Tue, 19 Mar 2013 12:04:59 +0100
Subject: MY DEAR BROTHER 19/03/2013

Hello Afanasiev,
Good morning. I had a client by name Mr Thomas Afanasiev who died few years ago. May his gentle soul rest in peace. His bank just informed me to present his next of kin so that they will pay him an inheritance fund of usd$4.2 million. I have made frantic effort to find any of the deceased family member to no avail. I stumbled upon your contact information and decided to ask for your co-operation to present you to the bank as his next of kin so that the money will be paid to you on our behalf. If you are interested, contact me through the following email addresses immediately. Please treat this matter as highly confidential.
 
Barrister Johan Meyer.

Anti-fraud resources: