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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: "Mrs.Bridget Coldwell" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <bcdw@hotmail.co.uk>
Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2011 07:26:28 -0800
Subject: In Good Faith(Please Read)

Dear Beloved,

I am Mrs.Bridget Coldwell from leeds united kingdom,I am suffering from a rare cancerous ailment.I was married to Mr.Robert Coldwell,he worked with Chevron/Texaco in the UK for twelve years before he died in 2003. My late husband deposited the sum of £ 17.5 Million (Seventeen Million Five Hundred Thousand Pounds) with a Bank in United Kingdom.Recently,my Doctor's have told me that I have limited time to live due to the stroke and cancerous problems I am suffering from.I have decided to donate this fund to you and want you to use my husbands efforts to fund the upkeep of widows and charities worldwide.I know this seems very odd and unbelievable to you.I took this decision because at this point in my life i have very little to live for,I also do not have any child that will inherit this money and my husband's relatives are bourgeois and very wealthy persons and I do not want my husband hard earned money to be misused.I earnestly awaiting your sincere reply via my email address:
bcdw@hotmail.co.uk

With God all things are possible.

Your Sister,
Mrs.Bridget Coldwell

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