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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: "william alfarouk" <21williams@gala.net>
Reply-To: w_suzan.alfarouk@yahoo.com
Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2008 22:03:29 +0000
Subject: From Williams and Suzan Alfarouk/Appeal for Assistance.


From Williams and Suzan Alfarouk/Appeal for Assistance.

Dearest One,

Greetings,We are Williams and Suzan Alfarouk from Sierra Leone.We are
writing you from Rep of Cote D'Ivoire where we Have been taking refuge after
the brutal war and killing of our parents and burning our properties by the
rebels during the renewed Fighting in our country Sierra Leone,Because of
the war our late Father sold his shipping company and took us to a nearby
country Cote d'Ivoire where he deposited US$18, 300,000.00 Million(Eighteen
Million Three Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) in his foreign account
with one of the bank here in Cote d'Ivoire.
We got your contact and We have prayed before contacting you with the trust
and faith in God that you will be of help to me and my Sister who is
seriously sick now coupled with the political situation in Cote D'ivoire
now,We are seeking for your honest assistance to help us transfer this
money into your account for a good investment Project in your country and
also relocate to your country to further our education.
We are willing to offer you 15% of the total sum for Your honest
assistance.Please for your good information this transaction is 100% legal
and has no connection with any illegal transaction, Please Help us to get
out of this terrible situation and our Almighty God will bless you.Please
quickly contact us through this our email (w_suzan.alfarouk@yahoo.com) for
more details and kindly call us +225 07083920 for more informations.

Best Regards
Williams and Suzan Alfarouk.

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