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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: <014@Jalonkatu.onmicrosoft.com>
Reply-To: <miss.susanelliot@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Sat, 30 Nov 2013 18:28:09 +0530
Subject: I AM MISS SUSAN ELLIOT


Hello Dearly, With due respect and humbleness, I am writing you this letter=
to request with my sincere heart for your assistance. My name is Miss Susa=
n. My father late Elliot Machipisa was a successful businessman, Industrial=
ist and a Human Right defender. My father was detained and later killed by =
the President Mugabe owned ZANU-PF Militias group. He accused my father and=
others of supporting the opposition party. The ZANU-PF killers attack our =
house one early morning and shot my mother. She later died in the hospital =
after two weeks in coma. http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/1477 http:/=
/www.hrw.org/news/2011/03/08/zimbabwe-no-justice-rampant-killings-torture T=
he main reason why I am contacting you now is because of the urgency of my =
situation here. I am constrained to contact you because of the maltreatment=
I am receiving from my Uncle. He wanted to kill me so that he can take all=
my late father's treasury and properties since there is no other person le=
ft in my house. Meanwhile I wanted to escape but he destroyed international=
passport and some other documents. Luckily he did not see where I kept my =
father's File, which contains important documents. So I decided to run to t=
he refugee camp where I am presently seeking asylum under the NGO for the R=
efugee here in Senegal. I have my late father's statement of account and ce=
rtificate here with me, which i will send to you latter. When my father was=
alive he deposited some amount of money in a leading bank in Europe which =
he used my name as the next-of-kin. The amount is $7.3M (Seven Million thre=
e Hundred Thousand Dollars). The Bank has sent a routine notification to me=
as regards the maturity of the fixed deposit account but I could not do an=
ything because of my present status as a refugee which according to the loc=
al laws does not authorize me to carry out such transaction. Again as a res=
ult of delay, the bank sent another notification to me but this time to inf=
orm me of the ethics and policies of the Deposit holding firm, that this fu=
nds will be declared unclaimable or be confiscated for already the account =
has been tagged dormant because it has exceeded the normal functional numbe=
r of years. However, the bank manager advised me to provide a trustee who w=
ill stand on my behalf for the transfer of the fund. However, I shall forwa=
rd you all the necessary documents on confirmation of your acceptance to as=
sist me for the transfer and investment of this fund. I will also come over=
to your country as soon the fund is transferred. I kept this secret to peo=
ple in the camp here the only person that knows about it is the Reverend fa=
ther who is taking care of us here because he is like a father to me. It is=
my intention to compensate you with 15% of the total money for your assist=
ance and 5% will be for expenses that may be incurred during the transfer p=
rocess. This is the reason why I decided to contact you. contact me via: mi=
ss.susanelliot@yahoo.co.uk I sincerely will appreciate your willingness to =
assist me as soon as possible. Pease reply me on my Email via : miss.susane=
lliot@yahoo.co.uk Yours Sincerely, Miss. Susan Elliot=20

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