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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: "Mr. Peter Alexandra" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <infomail20134@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Sat, 26 Aug 2017 08:52:33 -1200
Subject: YOUR MAIL

Greetings to you in the out there!!. This mail might come to you as a
surprise and the temptation to ignore it as un-serious could come into
your mind; but please, consider it a divine wish and accept it with a
deep sense of humility. My name Peter Pine I am 59 years old man. A
U.S. Citizen, live in Dubai (United Arab Emirate).

I was a merchant and owned two businesses in Dubai.I was also married
with two children. My wife and two children died in a car accident six
years ago. Before this happened my business and concern for making
money was all I lived for.

I never really cared about other values in life. But since the loss of
my family, I have found a new desire to assist helpless families. I
have been helping orphans in orphanage/ motherless home,I have some
deposit in the Bank which I want you to help me distribute to the
Tsunami and Hurricane victims in Asia.

Presently, I,m in a hospital in Europe where I have been undergoing
treatment for esophageal cancer.I have since lost my ability to talk
and my doctors have told me that I have only a few months to live. It
is my last wish to see this money distributed to charity
organisations. Because relatives and friends have plundered so much
of my wealth since my illness, I cannot
live with the agony of entrusting this huge responsibility to any of
them.

Looking forward for your reply.

Mr. Peter

Anti-fraud resources: