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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: FINANCIAL SETTLEMENT <wendyarandas@sheldonisd.com>
Reply-To: <trevor@southernphone.com.au>
Date: Wed, 2 Nov 2022 02:05:57 +0100
Subject: [EXTERNAL EMAIL - USE CAUTION] Notice of Claims

CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. DO NOT click links, provide credentials or open attachments unless you validate the sender and know the content is safe.

Hello Beneficiary,

You have been enlisted to receive a FINANCIAL SETTLEMENT of Eight Hundred Thousand United States Dollars. Your email was forwarded to us to contact you. Kindly reply with your details for more information on claims.

Sincerely,
Trevor L Howard
Remittance Dept

Anti-fraud resources: