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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: "Mrs. Mosa Nku" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mr.smosanku@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Apr 2015 08:23:10 -0700
Subject: Dearly Beloved,

Dearly Beloved
 
 
 
Greeting in the name of our lord and savior Jesus Christ Amen! I am very sorry I have to contact you through this medium because of how urgent this message is to me. I am Mrs. Mosa Nku, (Widow) from South Africa. I was married to Mr. Shaka Nku (A Rich Business Man) before his sudden death in a fatal. Recently, I was diagnosed cancer of the lungs which also affected my brain, from all indication my conditions is really deteriorating and doctors told me that I may not live for the next two months because the cancer has gotten to a very bad stage. Before now, I have sold all my inherited belongings and deposited the sum of US$10,200,000.00 in the bank to start/set up a charity organization which I might not be able to achieve again due to my health condition. .
 
 
Hence, I contacted you as God fearing person to accomplish this dying wish of mine by claiming the money from the bank and use it to open a charity organization that will propagate the gospel of Christ, help the poor, the orphanages /less privileged people and widows. If you are interested in my proposal, you are kindly requested to furnish me with the following information to enable me writing an authorization letter to the bank asking them to release the funds to you as my next of kin. YOUR FULL NAME, ADDRESS, PHONE NUMBER, SEX, AGE, MARITAL STATUS AND OCCUPATION.
 
 
 
As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of the bank officer in charge of the funds so that you can contact him as my next of kin.
 
 
Yours in Christ Jesus,
Mrs. Mosa Nku.

Anti-fraud resources: