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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: IMF PAYMENT <yakubuthlama336@gmail.com>
Reply-To: imfmgtcentre@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2022 13:49:03 +0100
Subject: PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT

Be informed that you are among those whose pending payment has been
approved by the IMF in conjunction with the World Bank. The fund release
has been delayed as a result of your dealings with unauthorized
individuals, so you are advised to stop every communication with
anybody/institution regarding the payment.

These funds originated from unpaid contract sums, inheritance/next of kin
and lottery beneficiaries that originated from Europe, Asia Plus Middle
East, America and Africa. You are among the list of individuals and
companies whose unpaid funds have been approved for payment under the
supervision of the International Monetary Fund Headquarters here in
Washington, DC USA .

Hence, We solicit that you contact this office within 48 hours of receiving
this notification. Please reconfirm your full name and contact telephone
number to enable us to normalize the documents in your name and advise you
on how to make your claim.

Yours faithfully,

Dr. Robert Carter
Coordinator, International Settlement Unit
Tel: +1 202 7737588

Anti-fraud resources: