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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: "George Smith" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <agentmike59@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 25 Mar 2017 22:51:25 +0100
Subject: Hello

Good day,

My name is Rita Melendez, from indonesia, a Banker by profession, I need your help to claim the sum 6.2M USD that belongs to one of my Bank client who has the same surname with you, I want you to stand as his next of kin for the benefit of both of us since he has die with his whole family in a car accident.

I have been the account officer to this account and there is no relative to come for this money.I do not want the bank absorb this money to the benefit of the bank, all you need do is answer same surname. I will provide you with all the necessary documentation to back up this cliam.

I will be waiting to hear from you soon.

Regards

Anti-fraud resources: