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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.Sara Kowal" <mrssarakowalkowal@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2022 11:42:54 -0800
Subject: My Dearest.

My Dearest.

I sent this mail praying it will found you in a good condition of health,
since I myself are in a very critical health condition in which I sleep
every night without knowing if I may be alive to see the next day. I am Mrs
Sara Kowal from United State a widow suffering from long time illness. I
have some funds I inherited from my late husband, I decided to donate the
sum of "eight million, five hundred thousand united state dollar" to you
for the good work of God Almighty, and also to help the motherless and less
privileged and also for assistance of the widows and Less privileged during
this Covid19 Pandemic. As soon as I read from you, I shall give you info on
what I need from you, then you will contact the bank and tell them I have
willed my inheritance to you by quoting my personal file routing and
account information to you for good, effective and prudent work. I know I
don't know you but I have been directed to do this by God Almighty.

Please I will need you to respect my decision and keep every process of
this confidential until every process is finalized. If you are interested
in carrying out this task.

I wish you all the best and May the good Lord bless you abundantly.
Yours Faithfully,
Mrs.Sara Kowal.

Anti-fraud resources: