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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: "FRANK" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <frankbia@qq.com>
Date: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 17:27:15 +0200
Subject: RE: International Auditor.

Dear Sir,

I am an auditor in a clearing house.

Our duty is to look into transaction records of Banks, securities companies
and financial houses within Africa.

We also work in collaboration with Europe, America, Asia, and Australian
clearing houses. During my investigation/auditing on un-paid debts in various banks
and security companies, I discovered your information that you are to be paid for an
INHERITED /CONTRACT FUND which requires presentation of certain documents
and payment of fees before the fund could be released to you

I want to inform you that the problem you are having is from your
agent/partners and the lawyer who is representing you, they did not
revealed the reason for delay of your payment, and My reason of contacting
you is to inform you to stop payment of any such to the lawyer or to the
financial house, as you will not receive your fund due to some anomalies we
discovered in your file.

We are to protect your interest, please contact me immediately so we can
advice you on how you will receive your fund without any impediment.

You are hereby advised to maintain constant contact with me and avoid any
interaction with those unscrupulous representatives.

Yours faithfully.
Mr Frank Bia
International Auditor.

Anti-fraud resources: