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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.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "Merle and Patricia Butler"<fred@ufma.br>
Reply-To: merlepbutler@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 07 Jan 2017 08:26:13 -0800
Subject: Hello,



Hello,

I'm Mr. Merle Butler the mega winner of $218M In Mega Millions Jackpot, I'm donating to 5 random individuals if you get this email then your email was selected after a spin ball.I have spread most of my wealth over a number of charities and organizations. I and my wife Patricia Butler have voluntarily decided to donate the sum of $2 Million USD to you as one of the selected 5, to verify my winnings please see my you tube page below.

WATCH ME HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXDhZZFzJ34

THIS IS YOUR DONATION CODE: [ 0043034]

Reply with the DONATION CODE to this email: merlepbutler@gmail.com

Hope to make you and your family happy.


Regards
Merle and Patricia Butler

Anti-fraud resources: