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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 Maria Phillips" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrsmariaphillp88@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 25 Nov 2020 13:20:16 -0800
Subject: GREETINGS OF PEACE AND HAPPINESS TO YOU.

Greetings of peace and happiness to you,

My name is Mrs. Mrs. Naria Phillips, I am terminally ill and have decided to donate my inheritance from my husband to you. No doubt, you may wonder how I got to know you and your information, and what informed my decision to Will my fortune to you, Dear, you have no cause to worry about these questions, I mean no harm.

Regarding how I got your personal details, it is through the the help of the nurse assigned to attend to me in my private ward in this hospital, because I cannot surf on my own due to partial stroke, it is the nurse who surfs for me under my direction because I feel to donate my fortune to an individual and your profile was chosen.

I am a 58 years old woman with no child and have been diagnosed with acute cancer for about 2 years now, shortly after the death of my husband here, which made me hypertensive and resulted in a stroke. In my present condition, life is without meaning to me and hope has since eluded me, each day I give my entire existence a thought, I feel overpowered by gloom and despair, also saw nothing but death lurking around, all these are my reasons for deciding on using anything in my name for charity in which co-incidentally you have been favored as the beneficiary.

I must tell you that I was truly touched by my inner mind to take this decision action, and I will advice you don't see your windfall as avenue for pleasure spree but should see it as an opportunity to build and grow your personal finances to an enviable level and help others, for both your benefit and the benefit of others, always put me in your prayers and ask God to forgive my sins and trespasses.

I shall be undergoing major operations in less than two weeks from now and have willed my inheritance funds to you and to help the less-privileged around you. If you are sure that you will use the donated fund as I have advised here, get back to me for more details.

Thanks and regards
Mrs. Naria Phillips
God bless you.

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