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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: "Mark Harris" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <m_harris_006@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 21 Jun 2017 12:32:12 +0200
Subject: PLS DID YOU RECEIVE MY EMAIL?

Hello!

Good day to you. I am Mark Harris. I work for the National Lottery Commission UK, the official monitoring body of the
National Lottery. The reason I am contacting you is to present you with a very rare unclaimed prize opportunity of a total
sum of 12,168,679.00 pounds. Obviously, the proceeds from this opportunity will change our lives forever and also benefit
some of the less privilege ones in our society.

I shall furnish you with details of this opportunity when you signify your interest to partner with me.

Thank you for your time and God bless.
Mark Harris.

Anti-fraud resources: