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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: Jeffrey Preston Bezos <menyagodfrey1@gmail.com>
Reply-To: jeffbezos1080@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 18 Feb 2023 04:19:48 -0800
Subject: Re: DONATIONS OF $1,500.000.00 FROM JEFF BEZOS

My name is Jeff Bezos, an American entrepreneur, media
proprietor,investor and commercial astronaut. As the founder,
Executive Chairman and Former President and CEO of Amazon, I believe
strongly in giving while living’ I had one idea that never changed in
my mind ? That you should use your wealth to help people and I have
decided to give {$1,500,000.00} to randomly selected individuals
worldwide. On receipt of this email,you should count yourself as the
lucky individual.Your email address was chosen online while searching
at random.so I know your email address is valid. Regards, Jeff Bezos

Anti-fraud resources: