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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: "Ms. Amelia Beneson." <ak24233514@yahoo.co.jp>
Reply-To: "Ms. Amelia Beneson." <amelia.benson@terra.com>
Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 19:45:40 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Re: Thanks so much for your being there for me.


My Greetings,
In order to escape alive
from our country Liberia
because of the then prevailing crisis and civil war, my father relocated his
remaining assets outside the country after the destruction of everything we
had.
 
Now weakened by his
tragic death after a long period of sickness, i have stopped going to school
and do not get any assistance because of the political situation and many years
of civil war there.
 
Please i want to confide
on you for my future and hope that you can support and assist me.
 
Before my father’s death,
he told me about the sum of €7,200,000.00 (Seven Million Two Hundred Thousand
Euros) which he as precautionary measure deposited in a bank in Europe for security
reasons before he died especially the unstable political climate of our
continent Africa.
 
Though i will not compel
you to honor this request against your will, but i have contacted you now to
help me so that this money can be transferred from the bank in Europe to your account for investment purposes for our common
benefit and my better future.
 
I need your assistance
and support so that this money can be transferred from the European bank to your
account as soon as possible.
 
I await your soonest
response.
 Ms. Amelia Benson.

Anti-fraud resources: