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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: "Manuel Franco" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <keep4michael@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2023 14:37:55 -0000
Subject: Re; Dear Lucky Winner

Dear Lucky Winner,
 
This is to inform you that, You have won the PerQuin online random e-mail lottery worth $5,000,000.00, My Name is Manuel Franco, I am one of the lottery agent and my duty is to make sure every winner gets informed/paid immediately. Please proceed to contact payment officer who's details you see below for further instructions on how to get your lottery winning.
 
Name: Mr.Michael Afonso
E-mail: keep4michael@gmail.com
 
Congratulations!!!
Manuel Franco.

Anti-fraud resources: