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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: "Mr. Patrick Douglas" <PatrickDouglas23421964@optushome.com.au>
Reply-To: afabiwil@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 30 Dec 2022 16:01:50 -0800
Subject: IMMIDATE

I am Agent Patrick, a United Nations diplomat currently at Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Atlanta, Georgia. Upon a routine check,I discovered an abandoned consignment box registered in your name and during further analysis of the package, it was revealed that it contained cash in United States dollars estimated to be six million.
I decided to contact you first to inform you and lastly to assist you with receiving your package by completing the delivery myself if you would agree to share 30% with me. Respond for more details.
Respectfully,
Agent Patric


Anti-fraud resources: