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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. Frank" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <sewrya1@netzero.com>
Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2016 01:06:56 -0700
Subject: MONEY TRANSFER REQUEST!!!

My name is Mr. Frank; Head of Operations to a prime bank. I have the opportunity to transfer $9 million dollars to your account as inheritance funds, the said funds belongs to our deceased customer of our bank who died many years ago without a registered next of kin.
More details will be availed to you upon your reply with required information.

Full names:
Home address:
Mobile phone number:
Occupation:

Thank you
Mr. Frank

Anti-fraud resources: