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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: "Mrs. Miriam Zachary" <fw9444@gmail.com>
Reply-To: miriamzchary@aol.com
Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2023 00:00:19 +1200
Subject: Very urgent....

--
My Special greetings to you dearest friend,
I am Mrs. Miriam Zachary from London. I am suffering from long time
brain Cancer. I'm married but without any child. My late husband was a
foreign contractor for thirty years before he died. I am presently in
a hospital where I have been undergoing treatment, from all indication
my condition is really deteriorating and it's quite obvious that I
won't live more than 6 months according to my doctor, this is because
the cancer stage has gotten to a very bad stage. My late husband
executed some Contract and deposited US$75.9M with a Bank on the 4th
January, 2017 before his untimely death on 11th of April, 2018. I am
revealing this to you, believing God you will help me actualize my
dream without disappointment. I have been officially notified by the
paying bank with letter of authorization to forward particulars of my
late husband next of kin so that the money can be processed and
remitted into his/her Bank Account. I want a person that is
trustworthy that will utilize 75% of this money to fund churches,
foster Child System, downtrodden and widows around the world. As soon
as I receive your reply I shall give you the deposit certificate,
death certificate and I will also issue you a letter of authority that
will prove you as the new beneficiary of this fund. Please assure me
that you will act accordingly as I stated herein and Keep this contact
confidential till such a time this funds get to your custody. This is
to ensure that nothing jeopardizes my last wish on Earth.
Thanks and God bless you, I await your urgent reply.
Mrs. Miriam Zachary

Anti-fraud resources: