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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: "eze john" <eze_john4@me.by>
Date: Sun, 29 Jun 2008 17:18:28 +0100
Subject: DEAR FRIEND,


DEAR FRIEND,

I AM VERY HAPPY TO INFORM YOU ABOUT MY SUCCESS IN GETTING THAT FUND NOW, I
WANT YOU TO CONTACT MY SECRETARY ON THE INFORMATION BELOW NAME;(
chuks_alex11@yahoo.fr)ASK) HIM TO SEND YOU THE TOTAL SUM OF $1.5M USD IN A
BANK DRAFT, WHICH I KEPT FOR YOUR COMPENSATION.
CONTACT HIM ON THIS EMAIL (chuks_alex11@yahoo.fr)
1 FULLNAMES
2 ADDRESS
3 SEX
4 AGE
5 PHONE NUMBER
6 CITY
7 COUNTRY
BEST REGARDS,
MR,EZE JOHN,

Anti-fraud resources: