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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. Melissa  Muammar Gaddafi" <kevin01morgan@yahoo.co.jp>
Reply-To: "Mrs. Melissa  Muammar Gaddafi" <mrsmelissa353@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 21 Apr 2015 19:44:51 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Hello my beloved in the lord! I am Mrs. Melissa Muammar Gaddafi, I am very sorry to contact you this very means but just because I have no option than this and I have no more time. I want to transfer US$20.5million US dollars to you on charity for you to help distribute to the orphans. I am sure you are aware of Libya war; As a consequence, many assets and funds belonging to Col. Gaddafi's family are being frozen by western government. If you can do the work please contact me for more info. Thanks I awa




Anti-fraud resources: