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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 Kaufman" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <willmkaufmann@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 1 May 2018 15:41:56 -0700
Subject: YOUR OVERDUE PAYMENT/COMPENSATION

INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
FOREIGN PAYMENT RESOLUTION SUMMIT
Monitoring, Consulting and Investigations Division.
Westminster Bridge Road
London, SE2 5PB United Kingdom

Our Ref: IMF/WB/04/VOL.5/018. Your Ref: Date:30th April 2018


YOUR OVERDUE PAYMENT

We write to inform you that your name is among the list of unpaid lotto beneficiaries that was originated from Europe, Asia, Middle East and Americans that your unpaid fund has been approved for payment.

Your name appeared among the beneficiaries, who will receive a part-payment of their overdue payment and it has been approved for some months now. However, we received an email from one Mr. Jason Pepple who told us that he is your next of kin and that you died in a car accident last week. He has also submitted his account details for us to transfer the fund to him including his International passport for identification.

In view of that, we decided to write to confirm if you are alive and if so, whether you are aware of the actions of the said Mr. Pepple. You are requested to get back to us for more direction and instruction on how to receive your fund. We want to hear from you before we can make the transfer to confirm if you are dead or not.

We finally apologize and express our heartfelt to what we have observed from several beneficiaries who were present during our last summit, who have explained how they have been swindled out some hundred thousands of dollars to the hands of crooks worldwide.

Yours faithfully,

Mr. William Kaufman
Head. Monitoring, Consulting and Investigations Division.

Anti-fraud resources: