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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: James Williams <jamesjoseph@qq.com>
Date: Sat, 29 Nov 2014 16:44:50 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: hello


Good Day,

I  know my mail will come to you as a surprise, but never worry because i will not compel you to honor it against your will. I am the corporate legal officer of Ecobank here, I have emailed you earlier without a response. In my first email I mentioned about a deceased bank customer whose relatives I cannot get in touch with. The reason i contacted you is for us to work together in the claim and for you to stand as his official next of kin. I am compelled to do this because I would not want the bank to push the late customer`s  funds worth Thirty Seven Million United States Dollars only (US$37,000,000.00) into the state treasury as unclaimed inheritance. If you are interested you do write me for more details.

Yours faithfully,
Jw.


Anti-fraud resources: