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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: Umar Idris <umaridris@mac.com>
Reply-To: umaridrisfamily@netscape.net
Date: Tue, 16 May 2006 15:59:09 +0200
Subject: Hello


Dear Friend,
Greetings to you and Please permit me to introduce
myself. I am Mr ldris Umar a SAUDI National and a
crude oil Merchant before I was diagnosed with
esophageal cancer which has defied all medical
solutions and according to medical experts I only have
a few more months to live. As you read this you do not
have to feel sorry for me as it is a universal truth
that we all must die someday, the only regrets i have
is being that I have particularly not lived my life
well in spite of my wealth and possessions as I never
really cared for anyone (not even myself) but my
business.
Though I was very rich I was never generous, I was
never caring about people but only dedicated my time
and resources on my business as that was the only
thing I cared about. But now I regret all this as I
now know that there is more to life than just
accumulating all the wealth in the world as I lay
helplessly on my sick bed. If I was given a second
chance to live again I sure would live my life a
different way from
how I have lived it owing to what has befallen me now.
As my last days alive are drawing closer and closer I
have already willed out most of my properties and
assets to my immediate and extended family members as
well as a few close friends. I also want my soul to be
at peace with God and for him to be merciful on me and
accept my soul and to this regard I have
resolved to give my remaining funds to charity
organizations as I want this to stand as one of the
last deeds I indulge in on earth before I die.
Though I have already distributed money to some
charity organizations, Now that my health has
deteriorated so badly I can no longer continue with
this myself and also I do not trust my immediate
family members or close friends on this as I have once
asked them to close one of my accounts and distribute
the funds therein to charity organizations in
Bulgaria,Sri-Lanka India and Pakistan they greedily
kept the money to themselves. Hence I am contacting
you with this as I have lost confidence in them
because it is obvious they are not contended with what
I have left for them.The last of my funds which no one
knows of is a cash deposit of Nineteen million U.S
Dollars ($19,000,000.00) stashed in 1 Big trunk box
and declared as Personal effects of high security
value which I have with a Diplomatic finance/Security
Company in Europe.
All I am asking of you is to assist me in making the
collection of this deposit and dispatching the funds
to any charity of your choice after keeping 20% of the
funds for yourself and your family.
Please contact me as soon as you get this email if you
are capable and sincere to handle this transaction on
my behalf so I can forward you with all relevant
documents necessary for the claims and the name of the
Diplomatic security firm where the funds are
deposited. God bless you as I await words from you.
Please inform me as soon as possible if you are not
interested so I can proceed to seek for someone else
to carry out this on my behalf. Please respond to me
on this email address if you are willing to assist
me Reply to umaridrisfamily@netscape.net.
Warm Regards
Mr Idris Umar.

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