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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: "Pesch Bernd" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <xn077731-xx@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 9 Feb 2018 20:26:32 +0100
Subject: contact me

I have privileged information to transfer funds to you, I will tell you details after I hear from you.
AVISO: Esta mensagem foi enviada para uso exclusivo do destinatario,
podendo conter dados confidenciais. Se recebeu por engano, por favor,
informe o remetente e apague-a de seu sistema.
Mensagens transmitidas por e-mail podem ser alteradas por terceiros,
recomendamos sempre confirmar a integridade dos dados com o remetente.

Anti-fraud resources: