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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: "christina thomason" <misthchristina@li.ru>
Reply-To: christina-thomason@hotmail.com
Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2008 08:59:26 +0200
Subject: From Miss Christina Thomson


From Miss Christina Thomson
Bidjan Cote D' ivoier
West Africa

Dera sir/ma
It is my pleasure to inform you of my present situation and humbly ask for
your help. My name is Christina Thomason I'm 23 yrs old the only child of my
late parents, my father was a former special adviser on rural development
and culture to the Interior Minister in my country before he died.
He was murdered with the Interior Minister by the rebels during the recent
political crises in my country Bourke Cote D'Ivoire . My late father also
has a Cocoa farm which was totally burnt by the rebels after he was killed.
Before his death he secretly deposited the sum of ($5.5 Million USD) in a
Financial Security Firm and inform me that if any thing happened to him I
should look for a reliable person to help me invest this fund for my future
and make sure I live the country for my safety he mention this as if he
knows that he was going to die.
I hereby seek for your assistance to transfer into your account in your
country my heritance fund as a reliable and trustworthy person, and after
the transfer of the fund to you I will relocate to your country for the
safety of my life, you will also help me invest this fund wisely for my
future in your country.
I have lived in the church for so long now just for my safety I still
believe that my father's enemies are still after me. I will appreciate your
positive response to my mail.

I will offer you 30% of the total fund for your assistance. I shall give
you more details as soon as I hear from you.
Regards
Christina

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