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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: =?utf-8?q?Prof=20James=20Smith?= <prof_jamises@yahoo.cl>
Reply-To: profjamessmith123@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2008 07:09:43 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: VERY URGENT


¡Tengo nueva dirección de correo!Ahora puedes escribirme a:prof_jamises@yahoo.cl



- Dear Sir/Madam This is to inform you that your funds have been approved on your name for immediate delivery to you.For the purpose of clarification and processing, you are advised to reconfirm your Full Names, Direct Telephone Numbers, Physical Address with Zip Code so that there will be no error during the delivery of the funds to you in your country of residence.Your quick response will be highly appreciated.Professor James Smith


Anti-fraud resources: