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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.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "vivianojabo4@zipmail.com.br" <vivianojabo4@zipmail.com.br>
Date: Wed, 2 Oct 2013 09:03:03 -0300
Subject: Greeting

URGENT ASSISTANCE
FROM: VIVIAN OJABO
ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST.

DEAR ONE,

PLEASE PERMIT ME TO INTRODUCE MY SELF TO YOU, MY NAME IS VIVIAN OJABO, I AM 19 YEARS OLD, I AM THE ONLY CHILD OF LATE MR.DAVID OJABO WHO WAS A FAMOUS GOLD MERCHANT BASED IN ABIDJAN HERE,THE ECONOMIC CAPITAL OF IVORY COAST (COTE D'IVOIRE) BEFORE HIS UNTIMELY DEATH.

I AM SEEKING FOR YOUR URGENT ATTENTION TO HELP ME TRANSFER THE SUM OF (US$6,500,000.00 ) INTO YOUR BANK ACCOUNT, IT IS MY INHERITANCE FUND FROM MY LATE FATHER, I AM WILLING TO OFFER YOU 15% OF THIS FUND AS YOUR COMMISSION FOR YOUR URGENT ASSISTANCE TO ME. I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT I HAVE ALL THE NECESSARY DOCUMENTS IN RELATION TO THIS FUND DEPOSITED BY MY LATE FATHER IN THE BANK.

PLEASE KINDLY GET BACK TO ME TO GIVE YOU MORE IMPORTANT DETAILS CONCERNING THIS FUND.

THANK YOU FOR BEING THERE FOR ME.

YOURS SINCERELY,
VIVIAN OJABO

Anti-fraud resources: