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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 MARK FRANCES" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <wefpaysection@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 9 Oct 2023 08:10:12 -0600
Subject: ARE YOU REALLY DEAD OR ALIVE??


Dear Fund Beneficiary,

I am still in great shock and confusion as to why you have decided to abandon this great fortune. Even if you did not meet up with the provisions of the little required payment for the release of

your fund ,is it not necessary that you explain things to me???

I was made to believe that maybe you are not the real owner of this money because if you are you would have talked to me and sought a way to get funds safely.

Well, my dear, do you have anything to say as someone was here last week and claimed that you are dead and before your death that you brokered your debt to him, thereby making him a sole

beneficiary of this fund. He came with the little fee as requested from you and he was ready to pay the money before I stopped him.

He gave us your funeral pictures and also an affidavit to this effect. I was convinced because when I saw the picture, But on second thought, I said,No, I must send an email to your email address

to see if they are saying the truth or not and that is why you're receiving this email.

So please ,if you are alive, this is your chance to make amends and if you are dead as they said, they will get the money by next week. I have attached the funeral picture and the picture which i

secretly took with them as my evidence ,there, you will see me standing and receiving documents from Mr john and Richard. Also sitting down is my secretary taking records of the event.

Do let me know/Call me immediately.

Thank you.

Regards,

Mr Mark Frances
Dispatch Unit.
Federal Ministry of Finance
Phone: +234 906 3621 632

Anti-fraud resources: