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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: Chief Dr.Phil E.Bernard <philbernard2000@netscape.net>
Date: Sat, 02 Jun 2007 12:50:01 +0200
Subject: Re: Plan to invest on properties and real estates in your country.


Attn: President/ CEO

Dear Sir,

I am Mr. Phil E. Bernard a native of Accra, Ghana. I am presently living in Amsterdam, Holland as a refugee. And, one Mr. Chris K. kufuor, a very good friend and the son of a renowned politician in Ghana, want to invest on properties/ real estates in your country and wanted me to assist him look for a reliable person or real estate agent that he can trust.

He has planned and ready to invest about US7,500,000 into properties and on real estates in your country, so if you are interested and can assist on this field, I would like you to send pictures of what kind of structures you have in stock through the above email address, then I can forward to him to decide and will get back to you for further details.

Thanks for your anticipated cooperation.

Yours sincerely,

Mr: Phil E. Bernard.

Anti-fraud resources: