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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: Michelle Darlington <michelledarlington2012@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Thu, 6 Feb 2014 17:24:30 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: I await your urgent response From Michelle Darlington


Dearest one,

First of
all, I seek your indulgence to solicit for your assistance concerning
the content of my e-mail, although I am not comfortable discussing it
through this manner, due to lots of unsolicited mails on the internet
presently, but after going through your profile and I prayed over it and
selected your name among other names due to the nature of my
proposal,which requires a reputable and trustworthy person. Someone who
will be kind and sincere to me.

l am Miss Michelle Darlington,
the only daughter of late Mr and Mrs Alexander Darlington. My father was
a very wealthy cocoa merchant in Abidjan here, the economic capital of
Ivory Coast, he was poisoned to death by his only brother (My Uncle) and
his business associates on one of their business meeting. My mother
died on the 20th October 1992 and my father took me so special because l
am motherless.

Before the death of my father on 10th December
2010 in a private hospital here in Abidjan, he secretly called me on his
bedside, when I sat down to listen to him, he started crying, when I
asked him why?
(1) He complained that I am too young to be managing my life with no one to take care of me.
(2)
That I have not finished my university education as he planned for me,
he revealed to me that he has a sum of $10,000,000 Million USD (Ten
million united states dollars) left in a security company here in
Abidjan, that he used my name as the only daughter for his next of kin
in deposit of the funds.

He also explained to me that it was
because of this wealth that he was poisoned by his only brother (My
Uncle) and his business associates , that l should stay away from them
as they are evil he warned me seriously not to associate with his
brother that is my uncle, that I should seek for a God fearing foreign
partner in a country of my choice where l will transfer this money and
use it for proper investment purpose ,that I must finish my university
education by the help of a business partner abroad and a guardian ,that
he or she should help me obtain a resident permit in his or her country.

He
also gave a standing instruction to the company that the deposit must
be transferred outside this country. According to my father, the money
was deposited as art works to avoid attracting attention to the deposit.

I
am now ready to do all these since my father my bread winner is no
more. l am honorable seeking your assistance in the following ways.

(1) To serve as my guardian in your country while I will depend on your expert advise since l am a girl of 20 years.
(2)
To make arrangement for me to come over to your country in order to
further my university education and to secure a residential permit for
me in your country.
Moreover , l am willing to offer you 15% of the
total sum as compensation for your assistance in the transfer of this
deposit to your country. Furthermore, you can indicate your option
towards assisting me as l believed that this project would be concluded
within seven days you signify interest to assist me by contacting the
security company.

Hoping to hearing from you soon. May God bless you as you extend your helping hand to the needy.

Best wishes
Michelle Darlington.

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