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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 Joseph Mark" <mmera@espoltel.net>
Reply-To: mrjosephmark300@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 4 May 2015 20:35:11 -0400
Subject: Lottery Winner


- This mail is in HTML. Some elements may be ommited in plain text. -

Attention: Email Account Holder
Congratulations!! We are happy to announce that you have won an Email lottery jackpot prize in our international BBC lottery promotion.
Your active e-mail address attached to computer generated ticket number: B55607545 4152 has won UK Lottery 2nd category award prize.
Kindly do view the attached file and contact our Fiduciary agents immediately with the above email address for more details.
mrjosephmark300@gmail.com
Phone Number: +4470-4576-4283
Yours faithfully,
Signed By Dr. Williams. George
Head Office U.K Lottery Board Director
Copyright (c) 1994-2015. The UK Lottery International Promotion Inc.8

Anti-fraud resources: