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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: "Mrs. Maureen Howell" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <howellmrs1752@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 2 Jun 2021 02:09:21 +0200
Subject: =?utf-8?Q?=5BSpam=5D?=
HELLO AND GOODDAY...

Dear Friend
 
 
Greetings to you.
 
I'm Mrs  Maureen Howell from London 76 years old widow with cancer. I got your email ID from your country's guestbook while
 
searching for a reliable person whom I can confide in,i sold off all our choice assets,landed properties and other valuable
 
family treasures and deposited the proceeds amounting to USD$10,000,000.00 (TEN MILLION DOLLARS ONLY) with First Inland
 
Bank of Nigeria plc. I will like to share a private information with you and I will appreciate if you contact me through my
 
email and furnish me with your information such as Name, Sex, Age, Marital Status, Contact Address, Phone Number: to enable
 
me write a letter of authorization on your behalf to the bank First inland bank Nig plc so that they can transfer my funds
 
to your account for the purpose of helping the poor as indicated on my WILL
 
Sincerely Yours,
 
Mrs.Maureen Howell
(London Uk)
Private Email: howellmrs002@gmail.com

Anti-fraud resources: