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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: Bill Gates Foundation < Gates.@helen.ocn.ne.jp>
Reply-To: Bill Gates Foundation < billgatesfoundation2359@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 5 Nov 2018 08:21:15 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Welcome To Bill Gates Foundation

Welcome To Bill Gates Foundation

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), also known as the Gates Foundation, is a private foundation founded by I, Bill Gates and Melinda Gates, I, Bill Gates and my wife Melinda Gates have decided to donate $2,500,000.00 to randomly selected individuals worldwide from the funds we Mapped out to help people and you are among the lucky individual, i saw your profile on Microsoft email owners list and i picked you, Kindly get back to me at your earliest convenience,so I know your email address is valid.

Visit the web page to know more about Gates foundation:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Bill%26_Melinda_Gates_Foundation

Thanks Bill Gates.


Anti-fraud resources: