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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: "Decker Michael" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrcarlosslimhelu599@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 11 Aug 2024 09:34:25 -0700
Subject: Attention Beneficiary..

Attention:
 
Your Email Address/Contact has nominated your name in our Database by the World Bank as one of the beneficiaries of the World Bank Lock down Palliatives in the global fight against the deadly Coronavirus. Note: Out of the 989,456 individuals nominated to receive the cash rewards in your country from the World Bank, 890,000 as at today have already received theirs in this first phase. Below are your payment details which you must quote in any correspondence with us.
 
I expected to hear from you as soon as possible to confirm that you received your funds so that we can pull your details out of our data payroll to enable us to concentrate on other payments.
 
Beneficiary No: WB-NEOC16409813
Pin Number: WB-02007577
Amount Due: US$250,000
 
Kindly send the below information for your claims.
 
1) Full Name:
2) Residential address:
3) Mobile No:
4) Age:
5) Sex:
6) Occupation:
 
Get back to me to disburse your payment worth US$250,000.
 
Warmest Regards.
Decker Michael
Executive officer

Anti-fraud resources: