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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: Tonya Jimmy <pattidame@hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 19:51:40 +0000
Subject: Please respond




DearestI am Miss. Tonya Jimmy, am 22 years old Medical
student, in University of Sudan . I am the only child of my father of a
blessed memory by name Late Mr. Jimmy Lemi Milla was the rural
development minister in Sudan . You can read more about my father death
in the BBC news below website:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12403620 I
am in search of an honest and reliable person who will help to relocate
me in any of the western or any other place in the world for a better
life and to continue my studies, I have chosen to contact you after
getting your email through a database, and I believe you are a reliable
person who will not let me down or betray my trust, I have the sum of
$4.5Million as an inheritance from my late father which I will like to
invest in your country with your help and am ready to give you 20% of
the money as thanking gift for your assistance after you have helped me
to receive the money and relocate to your country. I want you to
understand that I will not be able to make this claim because of my
refugee status. I know you may wonder why I am telling you about all
this, even without seeing or knowing you fully well, really something in
me tells me that you are a good person and I guess I am not wrong as I
have no choice. Please respond if you are interested so that i can tell
you more.
Yours Sincerely,Ms Tonya Jimmy

Anti-fraud resources: