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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: mrs patricia <vivian202micheal@yahoo.co.jp>
Reply-To: mrs patricia <madampatricia202knew@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 12:05:47 +0900 (JST)
Subject: CALVARY GREETINGS, I GREET YOU WITH THE NAME OF OUR LORD JSUS CHRIST; IT IS TRUE THAT THIS LETTER MAY COME TO YOU AS A SUPRISE. NEVERTHELESS. I HUMBLE ASK YOU TO GIVE ME YOUR ATTENTION AND HEAR ME WELL. I AM MRS PATRICIA KNEWL A BORN AGAIN CHRISTIAN AND A WIDOW,AND I WANT TO DO DONATION OF $5MILLION DOLLARS TO HELP ORPHANS AND WIDOWS,AND CHARITY FOUNDATION IN YOUR HOME COUNTRY AND I ASSUMED THAT YOU CAN HELP AND GET THIS FUND AND USE IT TO MY WISHES TO THE NEEDS OF YOUR COUNTRY,AND I SERIOUSLY ILLED CANCE




Anti-fraud resources: