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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: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: maria-aida1@hotmail.com
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 23:47:08 -0800
Subject: From Mrs. Maria Aida's Family

filename="FROM MRS MARIA AIDA AND THE FAMILY.txt"

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TWFyaWEgQWlkYS5EdWUgdG8gdGhlIHN1ZGRlbiBkZWF0aCBvZiBteSBIdXNiYW5kIE1yLkpvc2Vw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