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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: "Sgt. Raymond Williams" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <sgtraymwilliams@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2019 02:13:43 -0700
Subject: Dear Friend,

Dear Friend,

I am Sgt. Raymond Williams, who is presently serving with NATO-led
International Security Assistance Force, stationed in Kabul, Afghanistan. I
got your email id via my search on the internet and I contacted you for
this urgent transaction. I have the sum of $5.8Million USD packaged in a
metallic box and I am soliciting for your confidential cooperation to help
me receive the funds and you will be compensated with 40% of the total sum
for your assistance.

Kindly get back to me via this email: sgtraymwilliams@gmail.com for more
details.

Best Regards,
Sgt. Raymond Williams

Anti-fraud resources: