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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. Wand Smith" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrswandsmithhelplin@outlook.com>
Date: Tue, 30 Apr 2019 12:07:15 -0700
Subject: My Last Desire...

I am Mrs. Wand Smith an aging widow suffering from long time illness. I have some funds I inherited from my late husband, the sum of US$12,400,000.00 and I needed a very honest and God fearing person that will use the fund for God's work, I found your profile from the Internet here, and I decided to contact you.
 
Please if you would be able to use the funds for the Lord's work,
 
Kindly reply back immediately for further details.
 
(1) Your full names: ===
(2) Personal or official contact address: ====
(3) Home or Office phone#:==Cell phone#:===Fax#:===
(4) Your Age: ===
(5)Occupation: ===
(6)Marital status: ===
(7) Sex: ===
 
Awaiting your kind response while craving your appreciation of my predicament.
 
Yours in the Lord,
Mrs. Wand Smith
Email:mrswandsmithhelplin@outlook.com

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