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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: "Leon Hirtle" <leonhirtle2010@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2018 15:17:27 -0600
Subject: Good day!!

Hello ,
I am Mr. Leon Hirtle 81 years old man. I am from Bells Island, Nova
Scotia, Canada. I am a retired fisherman. I gladly appreciate your
response to my email in respect to my donation of Four Million and Five
Hundred Thousand ($4,500,000) to you and your amazing family. I really did
not expect a response from you especially due to the rapid scam on the
internet and news of people losing their money and homes to fraudsters
over the internet with false promises and letters of lottery winnings. I
am aware of all these evil deeds in the society in this present age but
back in our youthful days it was totally different as our major fear was
war, But considering my age and health, I cannot personally go around
traveling hours to your home and the homes of other two beneficiaries like
yourself who have already benefited from my donation , for that reason
alone that is why I am contacting you via email personally to avoid any
sort of misconduct. Considering how evil and selfish people are these days
I don't trust handing over this transaction to anyone at this earliest
stage except the lawyer for affidavit and the financial home where the
funds were deposited that you will be contacting later, only after I am
satisfied that you can be trusted. My payout bank which is a well trusted
bank around the world is the bank currently handling the distribution
donation and fund disbursement process to Charity Homes, Communities, and
wonderful beneficiaries like yourself.
Yours Sincerely

Anti-fraud resources: