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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: "Mr. Bimal Patel" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrbimalp@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2020 07:04:35 -0400
Subject: Re: YOUR UNCLAIMED FUNDS

FROM THE DESK OF MR. BIMAL PATEL
U.S Department of the Treasury
Address: #1500 Pennsylvania Avenue,
NW  Washington,
D.C. 20220,
USA.
 
 
Attention,
 
 
                                RE: RELEASE OF YOUR APPROVED UNCLAIMED FUNDS NOTIFICATION.
 
 
I am Mr. Bimal Patel, the U.S Department of the Treasury Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions, and the Chairman, Unclaimed Fund Release committee set up to disburse/release all the unclaimed fund to the supposed beneficiaries. We were informed that you have not received your long overdue fund payment for years because of some corrupt government officials who have tried to divert your funds to their own personal aggrandizement.
 
Be inform that after due consultation on your behalf regarding the immediate release of your Approved Unclaimed Funds of Five Million Six Hundred Thousand United States Dollars($5.6M). We have successfully secured your Approved Unclaimed Funds to your favor and it has been arranged for immediate release to you after careful verification on your payment file.
 
You are hereby advice to reconfirm the information stated below in this notification for further advise:
 
Your Full Name....................
Current Residential Address.......
Direct Phone Number...............
Age / Sex / Occupation............
Scan Copy of Your ID..............
 
I shall wait to hear from you with the above mentioned information to enable us expedite action and have your approved unclaimed fund released to you within official 7 working days.
 
 
I await your urgent response.
 
Thanks.
 
Yours Sincerely,
Mr. Bimal Patel.
Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions.
Chairman,
Unclaimed Fund Release Committee.

Anti-fraud resources: