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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: John William <professorallansmith@gmail.com>
Reply-To: forjohnwilliam@gmail.com
Date: Sun, 05 Mar 2017 09:22:14 +0000
Subject: CAN YOU HELP OUT


With Due Respect. Attention I sourced your email from a human resource prof=
ile database in the chamber, my name is DR JOHN WILLIAM. Account officer to=
late Mr. Morris Thompson from America who is an gold merchant Agent here i=
n Ghana, a well known Philanthropist before he died. He made a Will stating=
that $10.5 Million dollars (Ten Million five hundred thousand US) should b=
e given to a citizen of our choice overseas. I have made a random draw and =
your e-mail address was picked as the beneficiary to this Will. I am partic=
ularly interested in securing this money from the Bank because they have is=
sued a notice instructing me been the account officer to produce the benefi=
ciary of this before end of this 2016/2017 else the money will be credited =
to the Government treasury as per law here. It is my utmost desire to execu=
te the Will of my late client Mr.Morris Thompson since he is no more alive,=
both wife Thelma Thompson, and daughter Sheryl Thompson. if you are intere=
sted, you are required to contact me immediately to start the documentation=
process with the help of a legal practitioner. I urge you to contact me im=
mediately for further details bearing in mind that the Bank has given us a =
date limit, please act fast. I await your urgent response. Meanwhile I requ=
est on your return mail, kindly re-send me your data's information's: 1. Yo=
ur Name in Full: 2. Your Address: 3. Your Occupation: 4. Your Nationality: =
5. Your City 6. Your Telephone with 7. Mobile number: 8. Your Age: 9. Your =
Gender: For Security Reason Please keep all communication via: drjohnwillia=
m@aol.com

Anti-fraud resources: