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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: "kathryn" <kathryn@escamericas.com>
Reply-To: sgt.johnsonmiller2014@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 11:14:33 -0400
Subject: Can you be trusted?

Hello,

I am Sgt Johnson Miller, an officer of the U.S Army. I am currently in
Afghanistan and have some items I will need to ship to you which will
benefit you and I. Can you be trusted? Please use the reply-to address
to contact me asap and we thank you guys for your prayers and support
and hope to come back to our country in one piece. I will only
highlight more on this transaction if you meet my conditions. Please
signify your interest by replying to my private
email.(sgt.johnsonmiller2014@gmail.com)


Anti-fraud resources: