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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: "INFO" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <msg04agent@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 10 Jun 2019 01:02:31 -0700
Subject: INFO

Dear ,
I apologise for sending an unexpected message. I am Ken Herazo,I am Lawyer.
A deceased client of mine that shares the same last name as yours,
lost his life in an auto crash. He was from your country, and was a
Gold/Diamond dealer here in Benin Republic. Now I seek your consent to
present you to the bank as a close relative of my Client so that the
proceeds of his account valued at 2.5 Million Euros can be paid to
your account for our mutual benefit before they are seized by the bank
here.
Please email me your full address, age and phone numbers so that I can
send you more details for procedures and better understanding; and it
must remain confidential.
 
Thank You,
Ken Herazo

Anti-fraud resources: