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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.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr. Warren E. Buffett" <shivonbeyonce2017@gmail.com>
Date:
Subject:

Dear Beneficiary

My name is Warren Edward Buffett, I am an American business magnate,
investor, and philanthropist, who is the chairman and CEO of Berkshire
Hathaway. I was considered one of the most successful investors in the
world and has a net worth of Billions of Dollars as of December 2019, making
me the fourth-wealthiest person in the world.

I believe strongly in ‘giving while living’ I have one idea that never
changes in my mind that you should use your wealth to help people around
the world and I have decided to donate this amount through our Sunshine
Lady Humanitarian Grants Program to give out ($2.5M) Two Million Five Hundred
Thousand United Dollars, to randomly selected individuals
worldwide.

On receipt of this email, you should count yourself as one of the
lucky individuals.

Your email address: was chosen online while searching at random. Kindly
get back to me at your earliest convenience.

(Receivers name)............
(Country)...................
(Home Address)..............
(Phone Number)..............
(Occupation)................
(Male/Female )..............
ID Attachment ..............

So I know your email address is valid.
I wait to receive your reply once you read this email.
Happy Holidays in advance.

Regards,
Warren Edward Buffet.
CEO of Berkshire Hathaway

Anti-fraud resources: