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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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Fraud email example:

From: "John Eze,ESQ" <john_eze1@msn.com> (may be fake)
Reply-To: john_eze2@msn.com
Date: Sat, 26 Nov 2005 03:21:03 -0800
Subject: investment

Dear Sir/Madam,

Best compliments of the day. I have a client who wants to invest in your country and with about US$12.5M. My client is a retired General in the Liberian army and he needs protection for his family.

If you can handle such a huge sum of investment please get back to me as soon as possible to discuss, for example the investment plan and agreement procedure.

Kindly reply to the below email adds with your business profile to enable us advise our Client accordingly, and do not forget to include your telephone contacts for easy communication.

Thank you.

John Eze,ESQ
johneze1@mail.bg


Anti-fraud resources: