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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: "FATIMA ALI" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <fatiali679@yahoo.co.nz>
Date: Sun, 14 Dec 2014 11:17:30 +0800
Subject: RE: I NEED HELP

My name is Fatimah Abdul Ali, a widow residing in syria.

I am at the moment very depressed as i write to you. I got your mail from
search

engine and i really think you can be of help to me.

I will await your response before i further open up my reasons for
contacting
you.

Fatimah

Anti-fraud resources: