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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: michael john <j02michael@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 6 Mar 2007 01:40:21 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Good Day to you and may God bless you as you read from me,


Good Day to you and may God bless you as you read from me,

I am michael john,from cote d'ivoire west africa.please i am sincerely seeking your kind help to assist me.infact since the death of my late parents Mr and Mrs john i have been in search for a God's fearing human being to help serve as my guardian and to also help me get the money my father deposited with one of the local bank here in abidjan.Due to the war that took the lives of our family members and i am also afraid to contact any one from my country to avoid being killed as my father was also killed by his political rivals.I am contacting you today based on the fact that i want you to help me get me out of africa so that i will continue my education in your country and invest wisely with the money if i am to come over and be with you.

The fund is $15.5millon us dollars and i have all the necessary document of the fund.please direct me on what to do i am putting my trust and hope in you and i believe you will not reject my request for help and don't mind my english i am only managing to write.here in my country we do speak french language.Please contact me through my private mail box for further details(michael2007john@yahoo.fr)
looking to hear from you soon.
Thanks,
yours faithfully,
michael John


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