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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: "Mr. Benson Stevens" <test@ben.net>
Reply-To: mrbenstevens@yahoo.com
Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2017 09:42:43 -0700
Subject: Greeting's From Benson Stevens...

I have picked up the trust and courage to write you this letter with divine confidence that you are a reliable and honest person who will be capable for this important and confidential transaction, I know this letter may come to you as a surprise because we don’t know before and the rate of scams and fraudulent practices has made it impossible for genuine business deals to be carried out successfully because everybody is afraid of different proposals and offer emanating from so many countries globally.

My name is Mr. Benson Stevens, a Financial Consultant based in UK, I write you this proposal in good faith and if you are not interested, please ignore this mail and go about your normal business, I have very vital information that will benefit our families to give to you, but first I must have your trust before I review it to you because the top governments official involved in South Africa will not want their names exposed for any reason and I hope that you would not betray me.

I will wait to hear from you ASAP. On my private email: mrbenstevens@yahoo.com

Yours faithfully,
Ben Stevens,

Anti-fraud resources: