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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: "Micheal Garry" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <michealgarry@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 4 May 2017 10:53:23 +0100
Subject: charity

Dear Sir,

I am Mr. Micheal Garry, an old man suffering from long time
cancer. I have US$7,5 Million funds inherited from my late wife but
I need a very honest and trustworthy person that will use the fund for
charity work and help the less privileged out there. I have mapped out
25% (US$1,875,000) of the US$7.500,000 for you as a person while
the other 75% (US$5,625,000) you will used for the charity work. If
you would be able to use the funds for charity work, please kindly
reply for further details.

Thanks,

Micheal Garry

Anti-fraud resources: