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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: "Michael Esq" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <michaelhuffman@outlook.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 2015 21:49:27 -0400
Subject: Next Of Kin Needed!!

Hello Friend,
 
I am Barr, Michael Huffman, A Solicitor and a practicing attorney in the United States of America, personal attorney to the late Mr. Peter Moore, a nationality of your country. My client's wife and their only daughter were involved in a car accident on 30th June, 2011. I have contacted you to stand as his next of kind to inherit this fund, the sum of (US 8.3 million) left by my deceased client in a bank, as all my efforts to get to his relatives has proved abortive. If you do accept to be his next of kin and receive this fund from his bank, we will part with the money in percentages agreed by both of us. Be rest assured that all legal paper works for this transaction will be obtained by my law firm to complement the ones we have for this transaction. The way forward will be detailed to you immediately after you send your reply to michaelhuffman@outlook.com.
 
With best wishes,
Michael Esq

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