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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: "Mrs.Anna.H Burn" <mrsannahburn0@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 16 Oct 2022 08:59:12 -0700
Subject: Keep me informed


*Greetings, My Name is MRS. ANNA H.BURN, from Norway. I know that this
message will be a surprise to you. Firstly, I am married to Mr. Patrick
Burn, A gold merchant who owns a small gold Mine in Syria; He died of
Cardiovascular Disease in mid-March 2011. During his lifetime he deposited
the sum of € 8.5 Million Euro) Eight million, Five hundred thousand Euros
in a bank in Ouagadougou the capital city of Burkina Faso in West Africa.
The deposited money was from the sale of the shares, death benefits payment
and entitlements of my deceased husband by his company.I am sending this
message to you praying that it will reach you in good health, since I am
not in good health in which I sleep every night without knowing if I may be
alive to see the next day. I have been suffering from cancer for a long
time and presently I am partially suffering from a stroke illness which has
become almost impossible for me to move around. I was married to my late
husband for over 4 years before he died and unfortunately that we don't
have a child, my doctor confided in me that i have less chance to live.
Having known my health condition, I decided to contact you to claim the
fund since I don't have any relation I grew up from the orphanage home,I
have decided to donate what I have to you for the support of helping
Motherless babies/Less privileged/Widows' because I am dying and diagnosed
with cancer about 2 years ago. I have been touched by God Almighty to
donate from what I have inherited from my late husband to you for the good
work of God Almighty. I have asked Almighty God to forgive me and believe
he has, because He is a Merciful God I will be going in for an operation
surgery soon This is the reason I need your services to stand as my next of
kin or an executor to claim the funds for charity purposes. If this money
remains unclaimed after my death, the bank executives or the government
will take the money as unclaimed fund and maybe use it for selfish and
worthless ventures, I need a very honest person who can claim this money
and use it for Charity works, for orphanages, widows and also build schools
for less privilege that will be named after my late husband and my name; I
need your urgent answer to know if you will be able to execute this
project, and I will give you more information on how the fund will be
transferred to your bank account.Thanks,Mrs. Anna H Burn*

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