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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: "John Varley" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <johnvarley44@hotmail.co.uk>
Date: Sun, 12 Feb 2017 02:39:27 -0600
Subject: BUSINESS OFFER!

Dear Friend,
How are you doing today? Actually, I am contacting with regards to this particular fund belonging to one of our deceased customer. I decided to contact you about this unclaimed deposits. If you are not interested, please ignore this mail and go about your normal business. I am Mr. John Varley, Head Accounting Manager of our bank here in London United Kingdom. When you reply, i will give you the full proposal.
Best Regards,
John Varley .
 

Anti-fraud resources: