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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: DEBORAH ELVIS <deborah.elvis@btinternet.com>
Reply-To: deborahelvis@adinet.com.uy
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 2010 13:53:05 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: BELOVED,










BELOVED,
I hope this letter will not upset you, as we have no previous discussion on this matter. I am Miss Deborah Elvis, the daughter of  late Mr. Fredrick  Utuku Elvis,  who died in the year 2002 Air Crash  on April 15, in Busan, South Korea Aircraft: Boeing B-767-200ER Reg: B-2552 Airline: Air China Flight No: 129 Fatalities: 166 : 128 on his business trip. My mother died of heart attack, one year after my Father's death.
 
When my mother was in the hospital, she called me to her bedside and secretly confided in me about the sum of (US$12.5) Twelve million five hundred thousand US dollars which my father deposited in one of the commercial banks in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire for onward transfer to abroad for investment on his proposed cocoa processing company through an assistance of a foreign partner. Unfortunately he died the way he did without accomplishing his objective as a result of the Air Crash.

She warned me not to let our relatives know about this money because they are envious of my father’s wealth. When my father died, they wanted to take everything from us. Because of this I have decided to contact you, if you can assist me to transfer this money to your country. You will also help me to migrate to your country to continue my education with your guidance; while the money will be invested in profitable ventures.
 
You should please treat this matter as confidential, as I would not like to expose the existence of the money for security reasons.
 
Kindly study my request carefully and send your response to me as soon as possible. Also inform me what percentage of the total sum you wish to receive as compensation for rendering your help.
 
Thanks for helping me in advance,
 

Miss Deborah Elvis. 

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