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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: Linda Titus <ms_linda_timothy@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2008 19:00:00 +0400
Subject: FROM MRS;LINDA TITUS TIMOTHY




FROM MRS;LINDA TITUS TIMOTHY
ABIDJAN COTE D'IVOIRE
PLEASE EMAIL ME BACK TO
( ms_linda_timothy@yahoo.co.jp [1] )
DEAREST IN CHRIST,
I KNOW THAT THIS MAIL MAY REACH YOU BY SURPRISE.AS WE DONT KNOW
OURSELF PREVIOUSLY.I AM THE ABOVE NAME PERSON FROM INDIA. I AM MARRIED
TO MR TITUS TIMOTHY WHO WAS THE AMBASSADOR OF JAMAICA FOR NINETEN
YEARS IN COTE DIVOIRE.WE WERE MARRIED FOR FIFTEN YEARS WITHOUT A
CHILD. HE DIED INDECEMBER 27TH 2004 AFTER A BRIEF ILLNESS THAT LASTED
FOR ONLY TWO WEEKS
BEFORE HIS DEATH WE ARE HAPPY HUSBAND AND WIFE CHRISTIAN FAMILY.
SINCE HIS DEATH IDECIDED NOT TO REMARRY OR GET A CHILD OUTSIDE MY
MATRIMONIAL HOME WHICH THE BIBLE IS AGAINST. WHEN MY LATE HUSBAND WAS
ALIVE, HE DEPOSITED THE SUM OF ( USD $12.7MILLION ) TWELVE MILLION
SEVEN HUNDRED THOUSAND U.S.DOLLARS INTO A BOX FOR SECURITY REASON AND
THE MONEY STILL WITH THE SECURITY COMPANY HERE IN ABIDJAN COTE
D'IVOIRE.
MEANWHILE, I HAVE NOT TELL ANY BODY THE CONTENT OF THIS DEPOSIT IN
THE SECURITY
COMPANY.I AM TELLING YOU THE CONTENT REASON THAT I WANT
YOU TO ASSIST ME USE THE FUND FOR THE WORK OF GOD. EVEN DO YOU ARE NOT
A CHRISTAIN.THAT IS NOT A PROBLEM .WHAT I WANT IS FOR YOU TO USE IT
AND HELP THE HELPLESS PEOPLE AROUND YOU .TO HELP THE ORPHANAGES,
WIDOWS, AND MOTHERLES CHILDRENS
RECENTLY, MY DOCTOR TOLD ME THAT I HAVE SERIOUS SICKNESS WHICH IS
CADIAC PROBLEM.THE ONE THAT DISTURBS ME MOST IS MY STROKE SICKNESS
HAVING KNOWN MY CONDITION I DECIDED TO DONATE HIS FUND TO YOU TO
UTILIZE THIS MONEY ACCORDING TO MY DIRECTION AND THE WILL OF GOD.
PLEASE DO GIVE URGENT RESPONSE TO THIS MAIL WITHOUT ANY DELAY.I WANT
TO GIVE YOU NUMBER TO CALL ME BUT I DONT WANT IN A WAY MY HUSBAND
RELATIONS WILL KNOW THAT I AM GIVING YOU THIS MONEY.I HAVE SISTER
NURSE WHO IS FEARFUL TO THE LORD THAT WILL BE HELPING GIVING YOU
INFORMATION OF THIS DEPOSIT.HER NAME ID SISTER (CHANTAL KONE )
SO PLEASE I AM WAITING FOR YOUR URGENT REPLY TO MY PRIVATE EMAIL BOX
BECAUSE I DON'T WANT ANYBODY TO
KNOW ABOUT THIS .SO PLEASE REPLY ME TO
THIS EMAIL FOR SECURITY REASON.( ms_linda_timothy@yahoo.co.jp [1] )
THIS EMAIL IS MY PRIVATE AND PERSON EMAIL ACCOUNT AND I WILL BE HAPPY
IF YOU CAN REPLY TO THIS EMAIL ( ms_linda_timothy@yahoo.co.jp [1] )
REMAIN BLESSED ALWAYS.
YOURS SISTER IN CHRIST.
FROM MRS;LINDA TITUS TIMOTHY
-------------------------
This message sponsored by "TBC Bank [2]"

Links:
------
[1] mailto:ms_linda_timothy@yahoo.co.jp
[2] http://www.tbc.ge

Anti-fraud resources: