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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: Andrew Argyris <michealwooltd@gmail.com>
Reply-To: andrew.argyris@outlook.com
Date: Mon, 3 May 2021 14:45:37 +0100
Subject: Dear Friend,

Dear Friend,

I am Andrew Argyris, the Auditor General, Bank of Greece {BKG} .In the
course of my auditing, I discovered a floating fund in an account,
which was opened in 1999 belonging to a dead foreigner who died in
2002. Every effort made to track any member of his family or next of
kin has since failed; hence I got in contact with you to stand as his
next of kin since you bear the same last name with him. He died
leaving no heir or a will, I will explain my intention to you only if
you are interested


Best Regards,

Andrew Argyris

Anti-fraud resources: