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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: ben mataruse <b_mataruse602@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: <ben2007mataruse2007@yahoo.fr>
Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2007 12:27:12 +0200
Subject: Dearest,



Dearest,I am Benjamin Mataruse, the only son of late Mr and Mrs Peter Mataruse, a citizen of Zimbabwe. My father was a very wealthy cocoa merchant in Abidjan; the economic capital of Ivory Coast, my father was poisoned to death by his business associates on one of their outings on a business trip. My mother died when I was a little kid on a process of delivering my left sister Sonia and since then our father took us so special. Before the death of my father on January 2006 in a private hospital here in Abidjan he secretly called me on his bed side and told me that he has the sum of Fifteen million, five hundred thousand United State Dollars. USD $15.5m left in fixed / suspense account in one of the prime bank here in Abidjan, that he used my name as his only Son for the next of Kin in depositing of the fund. He also explained to me that it was because of this wealth that he was poisoned by his business associates. That I should seek for a foreign partner in a country of my choice where i will transfer this money and use it for investment purpose such as real estate management or hotel management.Please call me at 0022509717735Dear, I am honourably seeking your assistance in the following ways:(1) To provide a good bank account into which this money would be transferred into.(2) To serve as a guardian of this fund since I am only 18years. (3) To make arrangement for me to come over to your country to further my education and to secure a resident permit in your country. Moreover, dear, i am willing to offer you 20% of the total sum as compensation for your effort/ input after the successful transfer of this fund into your nominated account overseas. Furthermore, you indicate your options towards assisting me as I believe that this transaction would be concluded within seven (7) days you signify interest to assist me.Anticipating hearing from you soon. Remain bless, Yours Faithfully,Benjamin
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