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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: "DR. GREGORY DAVID" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <gcb@live.ru>
Date: Mon, 7 Mar 2011 12:18:00 +1000
Subject: I AM WAITING FOR YOUR RESPONSE.

Attn: Sir/Madam,

We reviewed your payment file today and discovered you have an accrued interest of US$4,700,000.00 (Four Million, Seven Hundred Thousand United States Dollars), being interest accrued from initial deposit of the principle amount made in your name. Kindly forward your your names,address,tel numbers,bank account details and your id for immediate transfer within 24 hours.

Cordially yours,

Dr. Gregory David.
For Ghana Commercial Bank
Accra, GHANA.

Anti-fraud resources: