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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: urgu <urgent0123@hotmail.fr>
Reply-To: david.michael019@yahoo.fr
Date: Sat, 3 Aug 2013 12:37:15 +0100 (BST)
Subject: From David

>From David
I am David with my sister. We are from Sierra Leone and lost our father during the political crisis in our country. Our father Mr. Michael Longo was a serving director of the Cocoa exporting board and left deposit of ($23.1) million with a bank for a foreign investment. Now we want to transfer this money to your country through your help for investment that will be under your control while we continue our education. Please reply urgently for more details as you agree with your heart to help us out in this request without betraying our trust in contacting you.
Thanks and God Bless.
David and sister

Anti-fraud resources: