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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: Karen Wright <karenwright19111@gmail.com>
Reply-To: Karen Wright <karenwright1911@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 22:31:48 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: Greetings from Mrs. Karen Wright,


 Greetings from Mrs. Karen Wright,

I am Mrs. Karen Wright an aging widow suffering from long time illness. This is my pessimistic condition I am currently admitted in a private hospital here in Cote d’Ivoire, I will be very enthusiastic for your kind responds, I have some funds I inherited from my late loving husband.
Mr Parker Wright, the sum of Five Million Five hundred thousand us dollars, which he deposited in a private Bank and I need a very honest and serene lord's fearing One that can use this funds for humanities and charity work.
Please if you can be sympathetic and delighted to do this work, kindly reply me as soon as possible for more details.

Your Sister In The Lord.
Mrs. Karen Wright

Anti-fraud resources: