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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: "JESSICA PETERS" (may be fake)
Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2014 13:40:43 -0300
Subject: HELLO MY FRIEND!!!

Hello Friend, I am Mrs. Jessica Peters; I have been diagnosed with Breast and Blood disease which has defied all forms of medical treatment and I have been touched to donate the sum of $10,500.000 {Ten million, five hundred thousand dollars, part of what I and my late husband labored during our time together Because I am so weak and fragile to do things myself, I indulge your full assistant. You should email the followings in your reply message to me: Your Full Names & Address, Direct Telephone number and your direct email address if available Kindly get back to me; for me to tell you more about myself and the humanitarian work. Yours sincerely, Mrs. Jessica Peters

Anti-fraud resources: