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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: "jose martinez" <jose_martins65@msn.com>
Date: Tue, 31 Jan 2006 04:30:10 +0000
Subject: DONATIONS

Dear friend,

Compliments of the day to you and your family! This mail might come to you
as a surprise and the temptation to ignore it as unserious could come into
your mind; but please consider it as fate and accept it with a deep sense of
humility. I came to know of you in my private search for a reliable and
trust-worthy person to whom I can entrust my last wish.

My name is Jose A. Martinez; I am a 64 years old man, I am Cuban currently
residing in Dubai. I was formerly living in Cuba and served under Castro?s
government but had to run into self exile after the ruling Government of
Fidel Castro closed in on my family on accusations of anti-government
statements, I was once married with two children but my family could not
escape before the deadly hands of Castro?s goons fell on them. l did made a
lot of money serving Castro and I have been a merchant here in Dubai dealing
in Ornamentals, Oriental Carpets and Artifacts and life was very smooth for
me until about three(3) years ago when I was first diagnosed of Cancer of
the Larynx.

Before this happened my business and concern for making money was all I
lived for, I never really cared about other values in life. But since the
loss of my family and hometown, I have found a new desire to assist helpless
families. I have been helping orphans in orphanage/motherless homes. I have
once donated some money to orphans in war ravaged Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan
and some East European Countries. Before I became ill, I kept $ 8.5 Million
(Eight Million, Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) in a long-term
deposit in security company and I didn?t state any next of kin when the
money was deposited and if I died without stating any, the money will
automatically go into the coffers of the security company and I don?t want
this to happen.

I am contemplating leaving the hospital to seek alternative oriental
medi-care in an acupuncture clinic, I have been undergoing treatment for
Oesophageal Cancer at the hospital and I am still here without any
improvement. I have since lost my ability to talk and my doctors have told
me that I have only a few months to live. It is my last wish to see this
money distributed to charity organizations. Because relatives and friends
have plundered so much of my wealth since my illness, I cannot live with the
agony of entrusting this huge responsibility to any of them. Please, I beg
you if you can to help me collect the deposit and distribute it amongst
charity organizations. Use your judgment to distribute the money and feel
free to reimburse yourself when you have the money for any cost you incure
during the process of collecting and distributing the money to charity
organizations.

Please do not bother to respond to this message if you are not in a position
to take up this responsibility and to ensure that my last wishes are carried
out sincerely to the betterment of humanity.I am going to send you vital
documents to back up my claims and I am willing to offer you a reward If you
are willing to help, please reply as soon as you can on my alternate email
address:

jammartinez115@yahoo.com

Looking forward to hearing from you soonest.

Regards

Jose Andres Martinez


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