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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: "Mr. Michael Lafont" <clubgerber@centrodecontacto.com.mx>
Reply-To: mriclft@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2015 03:15:48 -0800
Subject: Bank Transaction (Pls treat as urgent) 1/17/2015


Greetings, It is my wish to solicit your assistance in a claim of $ 9,400,0=
00.00 U.S.D belong to our late customer who is a gold merchant from your co=
untry,this is the true statement that will be of great benefit to both of u=
s, and I can not reach it without your support, therefore I need your coope=
ration to claim this fund from my bank after which you will be eligible for=
50% of the fund, while 50% will be mine. Please get back to me if you are =
interested for more information: Sincerely, Mr. Michael Lafont --- This ema=
il is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is =
active. http://www.avast.com

Anti-fraud resources: