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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: "Dr. Larry" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrfishbenson@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 3 Apr 2020 22:08:48 +0200
Subject: Hello my friend

Hello my friend,

I am glad to inform you that I have successfully concluded the transaction and the fund was transferred to Paraguay through the assistant of Mr. Howard Ferraro who is a Paraguay based business man. The total sum of $95.5 million was successfully transferred into Mr. Ferraro's bank account. Currently I am in Paraguay for investment with my share. For your past assistance I issued an ATM card worth of $600,000 in your name as a compensation.

Contact my secretary Mr. Fish Belo Bensons on fishbenson884@gmail.com , the ATM card. Send him your full name, address where the card will be delivered to, and your direct phone number.

Yours,

Dr. Larry Edward

Anti-fraud resources: