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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: Eric Howard <eric_howard02999@sbcglobal.net>
Reply-To: erichoward029@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 17:23:51 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: URGENT AND YOUR REPLY IS APPRECIATED


I CONTACTED YOU IN REGARDS TO CLAIM YOUR INHERITANCE FUNDS OF ($12.6MUS) WILLED TO YOU BY LATE ENGR.SCOTT..PLEASE DO GET BACK TO ME WITH YOUR FULL NAMES,CONTACT ADDRESS AND PHONE NUMBER FOR MORE INFO IF THE NEED ARISES..

NOTE: I RECOMMEND YOU SEND YOUR RESPONSE TO MY PRIVATE EMAIL FOR CONFIDENTIAL REASONS AND BECAUSE OF MY POSITION HERE IN THE BANK.(erichoward029@gmail.com)

REGARDS,
ERIC HOWARD

Anti-fraud resources: