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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: Antonio Horta <bennett1969alvin@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: <antonio.office1@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2014 21:09:45 +0000
Subject: Business Offer!!!




Hello I offer my friendship, and I hopeful that this mail will meet you in good time.
I know that this letter will come to you as a surprise as we don't know ourselves before, but be rest assured that it is real, genuine and a business opportunity that comes once in a life-time, My name is Antonio Horta Osorio Group Chief Executive of Lloyds Banking Group Plc United Kingdom.
During our auditing, I discovered a huge amount of money held in a dormant account. From my investigation, the account holder is a foreigner and after going into deep investigation, I found out that the account holder is a U.S. citizen who died along with his wife and children in a plane crash without any other heir and no known relatives.
I got your e-mail address from my secretary who operates computer and i propose to do business with you by receiving the money in your bank account as the next-of-kin, an empty account can serve provided it is valid. I contacted you because if this fund is not transferred out of the dormant account urgently, the fund will be diverted to the British Treasury as Unclaimed fund because of the law imposed by the British Prime Minister.
I guarantee that this transaction is 100% risk free, and there are no legal consequences. I can assure you as an expert in this field that the fund could be released to any foreigner because the account has no next-of-Kin. Upon the successful transfer of the fund to your account, you will be given 50% of the total amount while 50% will be for me. If you are interested,let me know so I can provide you with the details of the transaction.
Best regards,Antonio Horta Osorio

Anti-fraud resources: