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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.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "MRS MARY JONES" <mrsmaryj11@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: mrsjmary11@yahoo.fr
Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2006 16:50:42 +0000
Subject: URGENT HELP NEEDED


Dear Beloved,

Greetings in the name of God,Pls let this not sound strange to you.i
prayed and got you email id from your countrys chambers of commerce which i
have been with my late huband and liked to visit once more if God will in
his infinite mercies.

I am Mrs Mary Jones,I am 51 years old,i am deaf and suffering from a
long time cancer of the breast which also affected my brain,from all
indication my conditions is really deteriorating and it is quite
obvious that, according to my doctors they have advised me that i may
not live for the next two months,this is because the cancer stage has
gotten to a very bad stage. I was brought up from a motherless babies
home was married to my late husband for twenty years without a child
,died in a fatal motor accidentBefore his death we were true
Christians. Since his death Idecided not to re-marry,I sold all my
inherited belongings and deposited all the sum of $9.5million dollars
with a Security Company.Presently, this money is still with them and
the management just wrote me as the true owner to come forward to
receive the money for keeping it so long or rather issue a letter of
authorization to somebody to receive it on my behalf since I can not come
over
because of my illness or they get it confisticated.

Presently, I'm with my laptop in a hospital where I have been
undergoing treatment for cancer of the lungs. 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 that this money is invested to
any organisation of your choice and distributed each year among the
charity organization,the poor and the motherless babies home where i
come from.I want you God fearing,to also use this money to fund
churches, orphanages and widows, I took this decision, before i rest in
peace because my time will soon be up. As soon as I receive your reply
I shall give you the contact of the Security Company.

I will also issue you a letter of authority that will prove you as
the new beneficiary of my fund. Please assure me that you will act
accordingly as I stated herein. Hoping to hearing from you soon.

Waiting for our reply

Yours in Christ,
Mrs Mary Jones

_________________________________________________________________
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