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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: sylvester thompson <sylvesterthompson28@gmail.com>
Reply-To: sylvesterthompson156@ymail.com
Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2015 22:25:24 +0000
Subject:

Please accept my apologies I do not want to invade your privacy, I
wrote earlier mail to you, but did not get any response from you. In
my first post I told you about my late client who bears the same last
name with you. I received several letters from the bank, where he made
a deposit of $ 10.5MIllion before his demise, the bank asked me to
provide his next of kin or any of his relatives, who may make claim to
the fund, otherwise it will be confiscated by the bank hence I
contacted you for this claim, since you have the same last name with
him. After your reply I shall give you the details and procedures of
the transaction, waiting for your reply.

Regards,
Sylvester Thompson
Please reply to my private email address:( sylvesterthompson156@ymail.com)

Anti-fraud resources: