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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: "INTER CON SECURITY" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <larry.w.ellis@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2017 15:57:29 +0100
Subject: NOTICE!

Hello
 
It has come to our notice from one of our branches in west Africa that an unclaimed funds[4.5 million USD] deposited with us has your name as the awardee/beneficiary.. Kindly note that we have to verify your Information with what we have here before any further transaction.
 
Email back:
1) To confirm that your email address is still valid.
2) To Verify your details.
 
Click reply to get back to us
 
 
Regards
Larry Ellis
Inter Con Security
Headquarters: Pasadena, CA, United States of America
 
 
 
 
 
 
Attention: This message may contain private or confidential data and is intended only for the person(s) named. If you are not the intended recipient, then disclosing, copying, or distributing the contents of this message is strictly prohibited. If you received this message in error, please notify the sender and delete the message.

Anti-fraud resources: