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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: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: liliane.bettencourts1@outlook.com
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2014 02:27:09 -0800
Subject: Liliane H Bettencourt Foundation

Hello

I'm Liliane to authenticate this email, i would like you to get to know me, you can read about me on:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liliane_Bettencourt

I write to you because I intend to give extend the gesture for the season, a Donation portion of my Net-worth which I want you to use for a charity and fund raising organization to help contribute to your environment and community. I want to cede it out as gift hoping it would be of help to you and others too. Respond for confirmation.

My Private Email: liliane.bettencourts1@outlook.com

With love,
Liliane H Bettencourt

Anti-fraud resources: