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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: "Maureen Brooks." (may be fake)
Reply-To: <maurbrooks@yahoo.com.ph>
Date: Mon, 16 Mar 2015 09:06:36 -0300
Subject: BLESSINGS

Brooks. I am 61 years old; I am now a new Christian convert, suffering from long time cancer of the breast. My late husband was killed during the Gulf war, and during the period of our marriage we had a son who was also killed in a cold blood during the Gulf war. My late husband was very wealthy and after his death, I inherited all his business and wealth. I am
soliciting assistance for this purpose and have prayed over it. I am willing to donate the sum of US$15M to the motherless babies, the needy, poor, charity homes and widows too.

Lastly,I want you to be praying for me as regards my entire life and my health because I have come to find out since my spiritual rebirth that wealth acquisition without Jesus Christ in one's life is vanity upon vanity. REPLY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

Remain richly blessed.
Maureen Brooks.

Anti-fraud resources: