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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: "Mr. Afram Socrates" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <aframsoc@post.com>
Date: Sun, 3 Jun 2018 12:55:59 +0100
Subject: Dear Friend,

Dear Friend,

I am Mr Afram Socrates, the Auditor General, Ghana Commercial Bank{GCB}. In the course of my auditing, I discovered a floating fund in an account, which was opened in 1999 belonging to a dead foreigner who died in 2002. Every effort made to track any member of his family or next of kin has since failed; hence I got in contact with you to stand as his next of kin since you bear the same last name with him. He died leaving no heir or a will, I will explain my intention to you only if you are interested.

Best Regards,

Mr. Afram Socrates

Anti-fraud resources: