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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: officefile19@freenet.de
Date: Wed, 05 Mar 2008 10:44:04 +0100
Subject: Please use this money for the Churches and Less Privileged in the world.


Dearest Please use this money for the Churches and Less Privileged in
the world.
Greetings to you and your family in the name of God,in my
search for a reliable and God fearing person and having gotten your
contact through prayers and pains taking efforts via searching i made on
the internet on my bed side.

I have decided to seek your help in
carrying out my last wishes.My name is Mrs.Christiana Whisky, I\'m a 58
years old woman and my Country is Sierra- Leone,I was a merchant and
owned two businesses in Dubai,i was also married with two children.
My
husband and my two children where involved in a plane crash in the
Dec,25th Before this happened,my business and concern for making money
was all I care for,i never really cared about other values in life.


But since the loss of my family, I have found a new desire to assist
helpless families,i have been helping orphans in orphanage/motherless,i
have also donated some money for humanitarian needs,only recently I saw
on television the colossal loss of properties and livelihood people in
Canberra, Australia through fire.

I was moved with great pity and
compassion that I decided to make this contribution on assisting people
over there or any part of the world like Asia/ Europe and America that
might still need any financial help,i have kept (US.6 Million) Six
Million United States Dollars in a long-term deposit in a Finance
company in Cotonou Benin Republic West Africa.

Presently, I\'m in a
hospital where I have been undergoing treatment for Oesophagi Cancer at
International Memorial Hospital Cotonou.

I have since lost my ability
to talk and my doctors have told me that I have only few weeks to
live,It is my last wish to see this money distributed to victims of the
fire outbreak in Australia and other charity organization in the World
like i said,i have enclosed for you the Current Photogragh I took below
Because relatives and friends have plundered so much of my wealth since
my illness,I cannot live with the agony entrusting this huge
responsibility to any of them.

Please, I beg you in the name of God
to help me collect the deposit with the help of my Pastor and
distributes it accordingly Use your judgment to distribute the money and
keep 30% of it to yourself.
Please If you are willing to help,please
reply by including your phone number as soon as possible,again I will
allow you to communicate with the financial company directly upon the
receipt of your reply because I want this project to be completed before
the end of this month before i die according to the Doctor. I am waiting
for your response immediately.
Mrs Christiana Whisky.
Unbegrenzter
Speicher, Top-Spamschutz, 120 SMS und eigene E-MailDomain
inkl.
http://office.freenet.de/dienste/emailoffice/produktuebersicht/power/mail/index.html


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