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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.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr.Horst Kohler" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrkkohler11@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2018 05:30:08 -0700
Subject: OUTSTANDING PAYMENT NOTIFICATION

OUTSTANDING PAYMENT NOTIFICATION

Attn:

Your Long overdue Payment.

I saw your email ( in the Central Computer among the list of unpaid
contractors, inheritance next of kin and lotto beneficiaries that was originated
from Africa, Europe, Asia Plus Middle east, Americans ) among the list of
individuals and companies that your unpaid fund has been located to the
Scottish bank of London, UNITED KINGDOM.

Your email appeared among the beneficiaries, who will receive a part-payment of
your contractual sum and has been approved already for months. You are requested
to get back to me for more direction and instruction on how to receive your
fund. However, we received an email from one Mr. Virgle Lee Samples 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 for us to transfer the fund to him including his
International passport, we want to hear from you before we can make the transfer
to confirm if you are dead or not.

Once again, I apologize to you on behalf Of IMF (International Monetary Fund)
for failure to pay your funds in time, which according to records in the system
had been long overdue.

Yours Sincerely,
Mr.Horst Kohler

Anti-fraud resources: