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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: "Simon F.George" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <simoneorg@yahoo.fr>
Date: Sat, 28 Jun 2014 04:18:07 +0100
Subject: HELLO DEAR,

Greetings!
 
 
Mr. Simon F. George, is my name. I work in a Bank in Benin Republic, and used to personally handle transactions of Mr. Ali Omar, a citizen of Egypt. Mr. Ali died on the 5th of February, 2011 from injuries he sustained at Cairo's Tahrir Square in the wake of the protest that toppled Mubarak's government 3 years ago. Before his death Ali lived in Benin Republic and was a Contractor with Benin Energy dept. He has US$4.3M in a fixed account with the bank with no other beneficiary. Now i write to seek your consent to present you as a foreign partner to stand in as the next of kin to the late Mr. Ali. Let me know if I can work with you.
 
Mr. Simon F. George,
 
PLEASE CONTACT ME BACK ON MY PRIVATE EMAIL ( eorgeimon@yahoo.com )
 
PLEASE CONTACT ME BACK ON MY PRIVATE EMAIL ( eorgeimon@yahoo.com )
 

Anti-fraud resources: