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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.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr.Douglass Eliot" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <compensationdept.ng@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 2020 06:09:41 -0800
Subject: Attn:

Attn:
 
Two Million Seven Hundred Thousand United States Dollars ($2.700, 000. 00) has been issued out to all the affected victims and has been in distribution to
 
all the bearers. Your name is among those scammed as listed by the United Nation (UN). Compensation has been issued out in ATM visa card for you, so kindly
 
reply back to this e-mail address ( compensationdept.ng@gmail.com ) for security reasons and also to speed up delivery to your home address Via FedEx,DHL or
 
Ups.
 
Yours in service
 
Mr. Douglass Eliot
Director (UN)
+1 (240) 752-8932

Anti-fraud resources: