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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: "William Greaves" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <williamgreaves4life@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2015 09:33:01 -0800
Subject: Please help! Ebola virus has made me an orphan

Calvary greetings to you,

I'm a Sierra-Leon boy, a victim circumstance. please if you know how to help me, please do urgently.I need
your help after my parents and little brother was killed by Ebola Virus.

You can see how this deadly virus has killed so many innocent people in my country:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-28754546

My late father and King of our village had deposited 2 Trunk Boxes containing Diamond and Gold and the
total sum of $4.8M USA Dollars(Four Millions Eight Hundred Thousand USA Dollars) in Ghana.This inheritance
can give me new hope to survive.I need you to assist me receive the boxes, so that I will come over to your
country to live and continue my education till i am mature enough to go into business. My condition is ugly
and don't know how to explain it,it's traumatic! please help!

Yours Sincerely,


Prince William Greaves.

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