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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: Info Finance Firm <firmi9942@gmail.com>
Reply-To: richardmckenzie204@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 16 Sep 2021 06:44:57 -0700
Subject: Greetings unclaimed inheritance. Kindly get back to me

How are you doing I am writing you on behalf of your family, I have
emailed you earlier on without any response from you. In my first
email I mentioned about my late client Daniel, whose relatives I
cannot get in touch with regarding the recovery of his deposit with a
Finance Firm, but both of you have the same last name so it will be
very easy to front you as his official next of kin. I am compelled to
do this because I don't want the finance house to push my client’s
funds into their treasury as unclaimed inheritance. Kindly get back to
me to my official email. richardmckenzie204@gmail.com at your
earliest, so that I can give you comprehensive details on what we are
to do.

Sincerely,
Richard

Anti-fraud resources: