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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: Oderah Morris <unitednations.ft@gmail.com>
Reply-To: oderah_c_morris@yahoo.com
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 2021 14:35:58 -0800
Subject: Can i confide in you?

Hello dear friend,

Hope this message finds you well in good health.

Please kindly accept my sincere apologies if my mail does not meet your
personal ethics.
My name is Mr. Oderah C. Morris, I will like to do a very brief business
with you, am seeking for your assistance and cooperation for transfer deal.

There is an unclaimed fund in my bank with credit balance of ($11.7m)
which has been dormant for many years now, after my
investigation i discovered that the owner of this account is a foreigner
died nine years ago, before his death, he had a fund deposit in my bank,
this fund was meant for an urgent cash investment kept in our vault
without indication his next of kin.

As the deceased has no trustee or next of kin to his deposit, i contacted
you in strict confidence because you are a foreigner, what i need from you
is to use your name as the next of kin to the original account owner, then
i will use my position in my department to do some alteration and give
clearance and onward remission of the fund into any of your bank account.

Please acknowledge the receipt of this email if interested and willing to
work with me, thanks.

Regards,
Mr. Oderah C. Morris.
Abuja, Nigeria.

Anti-fraud resources: