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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: "Gareth & Catherine Bull" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <gareth_gbull@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 8 May 2015 20:56:51 -0500
Subject: Good news... Reply immediately

My wife and I won the Euro Millions Lottery of £41 Million British Pounds and we have decided to donate £1,000,000GBP(One Million British Pounds) to 5 individuals randomly as part of our own charity project.
To verify our lottery winnings,please see our interview by visiting the web page below:
 
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2091124/EuroMillions-winners-Gareth-Catherine-Bull-scoop-41MILLION-lotto-jackpot.html
 
After a computer spinball,your email address was among the emails which were submitted to us by the Google, Inc as a web user; if you have received our email, kindly send us the below details so that we can transfer your £1,000,000.00 GBP(One Million Pounds) in your name or direct our paying bank to effect the transfer of the funds to your designated bank account in your own country.
Full Name:
Mobile No:
Age:
Address:
 
Send your response to:  garethbull47@foxmail.com
Best Regards,
Gareth & Catherine Bull

Anti-fraud resources: