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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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Fraud email example:

From: "Maria Fung" <mariafung@fungworld.com>
Reply-To: mariafung@o2.pl
Date: Fri, 26 Aug 2005 01:41:31 +0000
Subject: I need your help,please respond

Dearest in Christ,


Please endeavor to use it for children of God.


From my heart, I offer you my friendship and my greetings; I hope this
letter meets you in good time. It will definitely be surprising to you to
receive this proposal from me since you do not know me personally, However,
I am sincerely seeking for your assistance in this confidential transaction.


My name is Mrs. Maria Fung from Malaysia. I am married to Dr. James Fung who
worked with the Shell petroleum Company in South Africa for nine years,
before he died in 2002. We were happily married for nine (9) years without a
child of our own. Before the death of my dear husband, we were both born
again Christians. When my husband was alive he deposited the sum of
US$22million[twenty two million US dollars] with a private diplomatic
security/finance company in Europe and I was the only person that knows
about it because of the close relationship between my late husband and I.
The security company does not know that the consignment contains money
because my husband deposited the consignment as personal effect and
artifacts.


Recently, our family doctor told me that it will take the Mercy of GOD for
me to live one more year due to my illness (cancer), what disturbs me mostly
is one of my legs that is now bad as a result of the illness, Having known
my condition I decided to entrust the US$22Million to a Christian individual
that will use this to fund to go into investments, assist churches,
orphanages and widows and also propagate the word of God and to ensure that
the house of God is maintained. The bible made us to understand that blessed
are the hands that giveth, so I took this decision to contact you since I
don’t have any child of my own that will inherit the money. My husband’s
relatives are not Christians and I don’t want my husband's hard earned money
to be misused by unbelievers, I don't want a situation whereby the money
will be used in an ungodly manner, Hence the reason for taking these bold
decision to contact you for assistance.


I am no more afraid of death because I know where am going to after I depart
from earth. I know that I am going to be in the bosom of the lord. Exodus
14vs14 says that the lord will fight my case and I shall hold my peace. I
can only communicate with you via email because of my health, I might not be
able to call you because of my health condition and because my in-laws are
around me but I will always try if chance permits me. I don’t want them to
know about this development.


Although, I can do all things through Jesus Christ that empowers me. As soon
as I receive your reply i shall give you the contact of the Finance Company
in Europe so that you can contact them and claim the consignment of money
from them. I shall send the deposit document and a letter of authority from
the court that will empower you as the original Beneficiary of this fund as
soon as I confirm your serious interest. I want you to always pray for me.
My happiness is that I lived a worthy life and bear in mind that whoever
that wants to serve the lord must serve him in spirit and in truth. Please
always be prayerful all through your life.


Thanks for your understanding. I wait to hear from you.


Best regards and God bless you.


Mrs. Maria Fung.


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