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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: Joe Costillo
Reply-To: gloriousdays111somuch@outlook.com
Date: 24 Jun 2020 14:47:16 -0400
Subject: this should interest you

Hi,
This is about your money, you might have lost all hope to receive. I made this effort to contact you, as an act of solidarity with you as a person affected by what I suffered. Like you I guess, I was engaged in diverse monetary dealings on the internet for many years. My monies were locked in inheritance, lottery award, contract, compensation, et al. In order for me to receive my funds, I made several payments which yielded no result. The financial institutions which handled the transactions suffered me in disappointments, until I stopped communicating with them. Recently however, someone helped me. Two Million, Nine Hundred and Ninety-nine Thousand Euros (€2,999,000.00) out of my monies was paid to me, courtesy of this person's assistance. It was at the Deutsche Bundesbank (Central Bank of Germany)'s Clearing House. I saw your file there too; reason I had to contact you. I bet you are very much interested now, on how it went. This is confidential and I'm in position to help you. I'm a journalist, semi-retired due to health concerns. I'm Peruvian American, residing presently in the Bahamas. In your reply to this email, I need you to substantiate your full names and contact address for the record, which should indicate that you are the right person I contacted. Then, will I tell you everything you need to know.

Sincerely yours,
Joe Costillo.

Anti-fraud resources: