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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: "Lana Wickstrom" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <talktomslwick247@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2020 15:56:38 -0000
Subject: Respond Asap.

Hello My Friend,
I have a proposal for you, this however is not mandatory nor will I in any manner compel you to honor against your will. My name is Lana Wickstrom of WMCZ Chambers Saskatoon Canada. I got your contact email from emal data directory while searching for a very crediable person to deal with, who will keep secret-secret,my late client Dr. Rita is the subject mater. She died along with her son on the Afriqiyah Airways Airbus A330 that crashed on landing at Tripoli airport after a flight from Johannesburg May 12, 2010.
Before her death, she deposited the sum of $12.5M with Rogers Bank Toronto . The bank has mandated me to present any family heir/inheritor for claim before the fund gets confiscated as an unclaimed fund.
Against this backdrop, my suggestion to you is that I will like you as a foreigner to stand as the next of kin to Dr. Rita , since I find you worthy/trustworthy, so that the money will be released to you. I will prepare every relevant document that will assist your claims, and facilitate the release of the fund.Note that this transaction is risk free. There is no atom of risk in executing this business as I have worked out all modalities to complete the transaction successfully.  Once the money is released to you, we shall share the profit and the expenses equally. Reply via my private Email: lana12wickstrom@gmail.com Please be kind to get back to me if you are not interested so that I can further my search for another partner. Also please do keep this proposal very confidential even if you have no int erest.
Best Regards
Lana Wickstrom.

Anti-fraud resources: