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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: "MR. JAMES F. ENTWISTLE" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <ENTWISTLE12@qq.com>
Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2014 16:05:09 -0700
Subject: HELLO

HELLO
THE UNITED STATES EMBASSY HAS RESOLVED ON A DIPLOMATIC MISSION TO NIGERIA ON-BEHALF OF 100 SCAM V I C T I M S  TO BE COMPENSATED AFTER POLICE ARRESTED SOME FRAUDSTERS IN LAGOS NIGERIA WHO MENTIONED YOUR PARTICULARS AS ONE OF THE V I C T I M S  OF CIRCUMSTANCES.
AFTER MY MEETING WITH DR. GOOD LUCK EBELE JONATHAN, PRESIDENT FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA AND OTHER HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE MEMBERS,YOUR NAME WERE AMONG THE LIST TO BE PAID $5M US DOLLARS COMPENSATION P A Y M E N T. SO RE-CONFIRM BELOW  INFORMATION SO THAT THERE WILL NOT BE ANY MISTAKE
YOUR FULL NAME,YOUR CURRENT HOUSE ADDRESS,DIRECT TELEPHONE,OCCUPATION & AGE
CALL MY SECRETARY WITH THIS NUMBER FOR MORE INFORMATION:  + 2 3 4 8 0 9 6 8 3 3 1 4 8.
MY BEST REGARDS.
MR. JAMES F. ENTWISTLE
UNITED STATE AMBASSADOR TO NIGERIA
 
 

Anti-fraud resources: