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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.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "anthony aliu" <anthony_aliu07@telegraf.by>
Reply-To: anthony_aliu@hotmail.fr
Date: Sat, 5 Jul 2008 17:50:59 +0200
Subject: private message


FROM THE DESK OF
Mr ANTHONY ALIU
BANK OF AFRICA.(BOA)
OUAGADOUGOU -
BURKINA FASO .


DEAR FRIEND,

THIS MESSAGE MIGHT MEET YOU IN
UTMOST SURPRISE,HOWEVER, IT'S JUST MY URGENT NEED FOR FOREIGN PARTNER THAT
MADE ME TO CONTACT YOU FOR THIS TRANSACTION.

I AM A BANKER BY
PROFESSION FROM BURKINA FASO IN WEST AFRICA AND CURRENTLY HOLDING THE POST
OF DIRECTOR AUDITING AND ACCOUNTING UNIT OF THE BANK. I HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY
OF TRANSFERING THE LEFT OVER FUNDS ($10.5MILLION) OF ONE OF MY BANK CLIENTS
(ANDREAS SCHRANNER FROM GERMANY ) WHO DIED ALONG WITH HIS ENTIRE FAMILY ON
31 JULY 2000 IN A PLANE CRASH.

YOU CAN CONFIRM
THE GENUINESS OF THE DECEASED DEATH BY CLICKING ON THIS WEB SITE
HTTP://NEWS.BBC.CO.UK/1/HI/WORLD/EUROPE/859479.STM<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/HI/WORLD/EUROPE/859479.STM>

HENCE,I AM INVITING YOU FOR A BUSINESS DEAL WHERE THIS MONEY CAN BE SHARED
BETWEEN
US IN THE RATIO OF 60%/40% IF YOU AGREE TO MY BUSINESS PROPOSAL.

YOU SHOULD CONTACT ME IMMEDIATELY AS SOON AS YOU RECEIVE THIS LETTER. OR YOU
CAN REPLY ME THROUGH THIS E MAIL

THANKS
YOURS FAITHFULLY
Mr ANTHONY ALIU

Anti-fraud resources: