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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: "Rose Wealth"<rosewealth82@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: <rose_wealth@hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2009 11:27:11 -0600
Subject: RE: Hello

Dear Friend, ABOUT ME The way I see it, you have two choices in life; you can be grateful for everything life has given you or you can be resentful for everything life has done to you. Focusing on what we already have and are grateful for right now is one of the most powerful things we can do to alter our life in a positive way. We can do this through losing as well as through winning, by having and by not having, by succeeding or by failing. You are always a valuable, worthwhile human being, not because anybody says so, not because you're successful, not because you make a lot of money, but because you decide to believe it and for no other reason. My name is Rose Wealth, an American Citizen residing in Madrid, Spain. I lost my entire family members in a plane crash on board the Spanair MD-82 airliner in 2008. You can go to this weblink for more details about the crash, http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/08/22/plane.crash.madrid/index.html I was the only survivor and life has never being the same for me again. To make matters worse, my Doctor recently told me, the head injuries i sustained from the plane crash has seriously damaged the left-hemisphere of my brain and caused a major damage to my spinal cord. My Doctor says, i have a few months to live after a series of surgeries and tests had been carried out. WHY I SENT YOU THIS EMAIL I seek your consent to present you as my Trustee/Foreign Investor and partner to my Bank, Lloyds TSB Bank, Madrid, Spain. So that the proceeds of my investment account ($52,000,000.00 USD, Fifty-Two Million US Dollars) can be paid to you. I have all the necessary information, guidelines and documents. You might probably think this is just another scam or scheme, but i assure you that you can only know the truth if you read carefully the content herein and act as your heart leads you. Although, i am a stranger to you and for all you know i could be just another of those Internet con-artist. However, i will implore you to respond to this e-mail with a clear conscience and a free will to get involved in this task. I will appreciate your utmost confidentiality and discreetness in this matter until the task is accomplished, as i don't want anything that will Jeopardize this transaction. Please contact me immediately for further information and explanation. I know i have never met you in person, but my intuition tells me to do this, and I hope you act sincerely. My best regards to your family, Rose Wealth

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