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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: "Ms Fiona George" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <msfionag@yandex.com>
Date: Thu, 8 Dec 2016 14:17:32 +0800
Subject: Season Greetings!

Dear Sir/Madam

I am searching for a business owner or anyone whose project needs funding as I have got a great financial opportunity for us to maximize this period if you are serious.

I work for the South African government, under the Federal Housing and Urban Development Department. We have just concluded a couple of mega national projects with our foreign contractors and need to submit our report on expenditure to the Finance department before the end of December 2016.

I need your cooperation for a hitch free deal in this regard. Please do revert back to me if interested for details.

Best Regards
Ms. Fiona George.

Anti-fraud resources: