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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: Paul Collins <paulcollins031@gmail.com>
Reply-To: paulcollins001@outlook.com
Date: Sat, 16 Aug 2014 09:52:13 +0000
Subject: Good day my Friend

Good day my Friend,

I have decided to contact you due to the urgency arising in this
matter; I am Hon. Barrister Paul Collins, a solicitor at law. My late
client bears the same name with you, who was a popularly known
independent contractor here in Lome Togo, he and his wife were
involved in an automobile accident while visiting a neighboring
country on vacation.

I contacted you to assist me in repatriating the fund valued of
(US$9.5 million) into your account. Please contact for further
details, I advise you to contact me via my email address;
paulcollins001@outlook.com so that I can give you the full details
about the transaction.

Therefore, I want you to forward your information such as;

Your Full name: ________________________
Your Country: ___________________________
Your Email Address: ______________________
Your Age: _______________________________
Your Phone Number: ______________________

Thank you,
Barrister Paul Collins

Anti-fraud resources: