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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: "MARY DAS" <mary1@ldsliving.com>
Reply-To: maryds30@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2008 03:22:34 -0700
Subject: Good Morning Dear,


*

Good Morning Dear,

I am Mary Das, I am a 24 yrs old girl from Zimbabwe whose parents were
assasinated in cold blood by unknown government men in a war, i am
temporally seeking asylum in Nigerian Refuge Camp, I came across this email
ID and decided to ask you for this request, it is true that i dont know you
and you dont know me, but i believe if you have a kind heart you can be off
help to me.

I write to say that i want your assistance to come over to your country to
start a new life, it is not safe and free here in africa, most especially
when your parents are not available to take care of you, i inherited a
legacy of US$12m dollars from my father, i am asking for your trustship to
secure this money for me in a trust account, and also to use this benefits
to take care of me in your country and help me to invest in your country,
please feel very free to write back to me as soon as possible so that i will
give you the Death Certifica, my pictures and the Will,

if you are willing to help me, for sure you will be compensated for this
assistance,

I will be waiting to hearing from you soon.

Yours Sincerely,

Mary Das,
*

Anti-fraud resources: