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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: Pius Okagba UN <rigsimo@alice.it>
Reply-To: atm.department11@barid.com
Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2014 20:53:18 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: Payment Via ATM Card


I was eventually able to get the funds transferred with the assistance
of a friend from Cambodia where I have traveled to on investment mission
as agreed with the friend that assisted me and will be there for a long
time.However,I did not forget your efforts at assisting me and have
dropped a VISA ATM Cash/Debitcard with an e-card payment centre
programmed with the sum worth of $37M as compensation for your earlier
assistance after several attempts to contact you had failed.This is my
last effort at reaching you and if you are lucky to get this mail,please
contact the payment centre with your identification including your
delivery address to enable immediate dispatch of the card to you.The
contact details: Mr.Frank Linbs,Regional Director,The Card
centre,phone:+229 98842246 and Email:(franklinb3@barid.com)
Yours sincerely,
Dr. Okagba Pius

Anti-fraud resources: