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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: Warren Buffett <baiyetemisiidowu@gmail.com>
Reply-To: bfdation3@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2022 14:04:34 +0100
Subject: Your email has won you $4.8m

Dear Elect,

My name is Warren Edward Buffett, A philanthropist, the chairman and CEO
of Berkshire Hathaway, one of the largest private foundations in the
world. Having pledged to give away 99 percent of my fortune to
philanthropic causes via the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. I founded
the giving pledge in 2009 with Bill Gates, whereby billionaires pledge
to give away at least half of their fortunes. I believe strongly in
giving while living and I had one idea that never left in my mind which
is use your wealth to help people and I have decided to give Four
Million Eight Hundred Thousand Dollars to randomly selected individuals
worldwide to help Citizens fight against poverty
and COVID -19.

On receipt of this email, you should count yourself as one of the lucky
individuals. Your email was chosen online while searching for random.
Kindly get back to me at your earliest convenience so I know your email
is still valid.

Regards,
Warren Edward Buffett
American business magnate
CEO Berkshire Hathaway

Anti-fraud resources: