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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: "Edwin Castro" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <11109401ec@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 24 Feb 2023 06:22:13 -0800
Subject: Donation

I'm Edwin Castro, you have a donation of $2,800,000.00. I won the $768 Million Powerball Lottery on November 7, 2022, I'm donating a portion of it to five lucky people and ten charities. Your email has emerged as the winner. For claims, please contact me urgently at: e.castro10118@gmail.com View my full interview here: https://www.foxla.com/news/california-2-04-billion-powerball-jackpot-winner. My reason for this donation is because I know what it feels like to have nothing. I do my best to put a smile on the faces of everyone in the world, in every possible way.

Anti-fraud resources: