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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. Michael George" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <brutarm3@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 2020 11:16:43 +0100
Subject: E-mail From FedEx Courier Shipping Company

Greetings,
 
Your Bank Draft have been shipped and below is the tracking details http://www.fedex.com/tracking Your Tracking Number: 800277347645
You have to send $180 for redirection fee and your bank draft will delivered to you within 24hours.
 
Waiting to hear from you ASAP. Contacted :  and phone +1 (205) 302-7099
Regards
Mr. Michael George

Anti-fraud resources: