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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: 4shared <no-reply@mx2.4shared.com>
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 2015 11:20:33 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: Your subscription at 4shared.com Service will be deleted

4shared e-mail
Please, click 'Enable images'
Hello, Sir/Madam.
Your 4shared account is either expired or was deleted but your files will be safe for another 15 days. You can fully recover your account and files by pressing the button:
Reactivate my account

The 4shared Team
This is an automated e-mail message, please do not reply directly. If you have any questions contact us.
Access your files from anywhere
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©2015 4shared. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Anti-fraud resources: