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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: "Customer Services" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <charles_90@aliyun.com>
Date: Tue, 9 Aug 2022 22:13:19 -0700
Subject: Re:Payment Confirmation....

I am contacting you regarding a proposal that could be of mutual benefit for both of us. I wish to draw your attention to an unclaimed fund belonging to the late Mr Francesico Bielege, who passed away a year ago from COVD-19. Mr Bielege had deposited a contract sum of US$10.3 Million in an escrow account that has remained unclaimed.

I manage our treasury department. I'm responsible for managing dormant accounts, including contacting the next of kin of deceased account holders. Over the last years, I have tried numerously to find the next of kin to Mr Bielege unsuccessfully. It has just been brought to my notice that Mr Bielege's next of kin also passed away from COVID-19.

It will interest you to know that the last name of the next of kin is similar to yours, and hence my inviting you to lay claim to this fund. I shall process the release of the fund to you immediately, and we can keep this dormant fund for ourselves.

If you are interested in this proposal, contact me privately at: charles_90@aliyun.com

I'll need you to also re-confirm your personal information.

1) Full Name------------------
2) Phone number--------------
3) Occupation-------------------

For claims, we will require you to submit a copy of your identity for verification.

Yours sincerely

Charles Bloom

Anti-fraud resources: