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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: Matthew Cul <mattcul47@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 07:08:11 +0100
Subject: Re

Dear Sir/Ma,

Naturally, this letter will come to you as a surprise since we have not
met, permit me however to introducemyself; I am a white Zimbabwean
Farmer, currently in hiding in Zimbabwe.
I have funds ($18.5M) to invest in your country. I am contacting you as
the need for me to have a foreign partner in your country has become
necessary due to my plans to relocate to that country so that I can
purchase some land and start farming all over again. If you are
interested and willing to assist me (for a 20% commission), please
contact me as soon as possible for more details.

I will give you more details when I hear from you. You can click on the
links below to get a better understanding of my situation and why I need
your assistance: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1068528.stm

Best Regards,
LEKAN Adeogun

Anti-fraud resources: