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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: "william simon" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <william.williamsimon2017@yandex.com>
Date: Fri, 27 Oct 2017 07:05:22 -0500
Subject: HELP

Dear friend,
Hello,
Please take your time to read this message; although we have never met
before,
this is no spam. It's a real message sent to you. I know also that you willbe
amazed at the level of trust that I am willing to place in a person that I
have never seen nor spoken with.
I have only about a few months to live and I want you to Distribute my
funds fifty-eight million dollars $58,000,000(united states dollars) to
charities.
if you will help reply me to my private email below
william.williamsimon2017@yandex.com
yours truly,
William Simon

Anti-fraud resources: