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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: "Wendy Victoria" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <victoriawen@outlook.com>
Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2017 11:01:08 -0700
Subject: Hello.. From Wendy

 
 
Good Morning.
 
Forgive my intrusion as I know that this is an unconventional way of reaching out to you.
 
My name is Wendy Victoria and I am from Sweden. My reason for writing you is to seek your friendship! Just being adventurous and decided to use this letter as a resource tool to get your attention. As a matter of fact, I have been wanting to try this a while now to chat. But I was clueless on how to go about it.
 
Maybe you find it strange that I am using something as cold as this means to reach you. But this is the best I can do for now.In short: the purpose of this letter is just to ask you if you want to be my friend. And if you agree, just say yes and we can take it on from there.
 
I look forward hearing from you.
 
Best Regards
 
 
Wendy

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