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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: Mrs Maria <mari678ler8@gmail.com>
Reply-To: marianaaweidler7@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2022 02:27:07 -0800
Subject: Good day

Hello!

I am Mrs. Maria from London-UK, a widow diagnosed with cancer and
currently partially suffering from a stroke which has made it almost
impossible for me to move. I believe that it is God's wish to find you
now and I have been praying if you are really the chosen one for the
charity project. According to God's direction, after all the prayers I
was convinced and decided to contact you. I have a project draft
account worth USD$4,800,000.00 in an international bank and I decided
to inherit you the fund to fulfill my dreams and desire to implement
charity projects, which is impossible for me to carry out the mission
due to my health condition. For your participation in the transaction,
you will get 20% and 80% for the charity project. If you are really
sure about your sincerity, reliability and confidentiality about this
projects, please reply urgently and I will send you more details about
this deal. Hoping to hear from you soon.

Anti-fraud resources: