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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.Melissa Muammar <office001@72176.onmicrosoft.com>
Reply-To: <mrsmelissamuamargadafi@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 18:33:50 +0530
Subject: PLEASE READ THIS MAIL AND GET BACK TO ME.

My name is Mrs.Melissa Muammar Gaddafi, I am at the end of the road, and want to donate an amount of 8.5 Millon Dollars through you to help the orphanage as charity. I promise that your assistance will totally be rewarded. Kindly reply back to me on: mrsmelissamuamargadafi@gmail.com for detailed information. God bless you. Waiting to hear from you.

Anti-fraud resources: