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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: "JOYCE ANN MIDDLETON" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <joyceannmiddleton@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2014 05:39:43 -0500
Subject: GOOD DAY FRIEND AND HOW ARE YOU DOING TODAY?

GOOD DAY FRIEND AND HOW ARE YOU DOING TODAY? I KNOW YOU MAY BE WONDERING TO RECEIVE THIS MESSAGE FROM A COMPLETE TOTAL STRANGER YOU HAVE NEVER MET BEFORE, I AM USING THIS AS THE ONLY MEDIUM TO COMMUNICATE WITH YOU AT THE MOMENT DUE TO MY HEALTH CONDITION IN BRIEF MY NAME IS JOYCE MIDDLETON, FROM GEORGIA UNITED STATES. I RESIDE HERE IN 925 UNOIN CHURCH ROAD COLQUITT GA 39837 I WANT TO PASS THIS IMPORTANT INFORMATION TO YOU DUE TO MY PRESENT CONDITION AND I WANT YOU TO MAKE USE OF IT VERY WELL WHEN IT GET TO YOU, I AM INTO TRADING BUSINESS WHICH KEPT ME BUSY AT ALL TIME TRAVELING FROM STATES TO UNITED KINGDOM ON MY BUSINESS AFFAIRS AS I LOST MY HUSBAND AND THREE CHILDREN THROUGH A CAR ACCIDENT, AFTER THIS I CAME ACROSS YOUR CONTACT DETAILS IN THE INTERNET DIRECTORY WHICH I HAVE DECIDE TO GIVE YOU TWO MILLION EIGHT HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS ($2.800,000usd) IN MY ACCOUNT WITH THE BANK OF AMERICA (B.O.A) I WILL HELP YOU FINANCIALLY, IF YOU NEED HELP PLEASE CONTACT ME AS SOON YOU CAN. HAVE A BLESSED DAY

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