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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. Chad Wolf" <infor@mingle.org>
Reply-To: washington.dc5@aol.com
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 2020 22:22:41 +0100
Subject: Attention Dear Beneficiary


I'm Mr. Chad Wolf, the acting secretary of U.S. Department of Homeland secu=
rity appointed by President Donald Trump. Office Address: 3801 Nebraska Ave=
NW, Washington, DC, United States. I received a report that you have an un=
claimed fund of US$5,000,000.00 (Five Million United State Dollar) in the W=
est Africa. I have instructed ECOWAS and the concerned authorities to bring=
the consignment box containing your total fund to our Head office in Washi=
ngton DC. The said fund will be here today. Therefore, you are expected to =
reconfirm your Full Name (as stated on your government issued photo ID), Ho=
me Address, Nearest Airport and your Direct Cell Phone # so that arrangemen=
t can be made for the delivery of the consignment box to your home address.=
You can reach me on here's my cell phone (202) 956-4797. I will be looking=
forward to Hearing from you As soon as Possible Best Regards Mr. Chad Wolf=
The Acting Secretary Of the U.S Department of Homeland Security Washington=
D.C=20

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