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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.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "Mrs. Ulrich Murray" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrsulrich@pobox.sk>
Date: Sat, 8 Apr 2017 05:10:13 -0700
Subject: Mrs. Ulrich Murray seeking for your assistance

My name is Mrs. Ulrich Murray, an American citizen married to late politician Mr. Murray Scott. My husband was divisional treasurer of Ipoh Barat unit of the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) in Perak state. He was brutally Murder by opposing members of his party for his straight forwardness and accountability though the government claimed it was hurt in the robbery attack. I was lucky to stand this gruesome murder on the night of January 13th 2014, My life has not being the same since the demise of my lovely husband.
I was diagnosed with cancer of breast shortly after this accident. My health has so deteriorated that the doctors say I have few months on earth. Our only son died in 2015 after a car crash. So, I'm in a lonely world of my home waiting for death to come. I write you to seek your assistance in the security of $18.500.000.00 USD invested in gold bond deposited by my late husband with Standard Bank  I am the only one with direct access and information of this deposit.
I decided to seek help knowing that my days are numbered having received a call from the Bank that they will turn the deposit to its treasury if i fail to present an Administrator/next of kin for the account. I seek your assistance to my administrator to this inheritance. I intend to introduce you to our family attorney whom I deem very competent to guide you through this claim process. Please get back to me for more information on this inheritance. I was led by the Almighty to send this email to you after serious thought of all emails I saw on the internet. Please treat this seriously. I have all documents of deposit of this fund to prove this legitimate to you. I got your email from a brochure in the where I have been hospitalized for three months now on chemotherapy treatment two times a week.
Mrs. Ulrich Murray

Anti-fraud resources: