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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: JULIE LEACH FOUNDATION
Reply-To: <julieleeach1965@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 18 Oct 2015 13:34:22 +0200
Subject: YOU ARE A LUCKY BENEFICIARY

Hello My Friend,

I am Julie Leach, the lucky woman from Three Rivers, Michigan, who won $310.5 Million Powerball Jackpot on September 30, 2015. Your email was randomly picked as beneficiary of my foundation's cash grant donation of $2,000.000.00 USD each for 20 lucky people like me, as part of my contributions to humanity. Please write back for instructions on how to receive funds.

Thanks, hope to hear from you soon.

Kind Regards
Julie Leach.

Anti-fraud resources: