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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: "jonnywilliams@cantv.net" <jonnywilliams@cantv.net>
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 2009 11:37:52 -0430
Subject: Dearest one,

Dearest one,
May the blessing of God be upon you and grant you the wisdom and   sympathy to understand my situation and how much I need your help. I am Jonny Williams  the only Son and child of  Late Mr David Williams,  I  lost my Father a couple of months ago. He was the Chairman of Cooperative Association of the Mining, Cocoa and Diamond in our Region for over 20 years, though there was a little political problem within the Association on who will succeeds my  Father which resulted to his kidnap and subsequent assassination by some disgruntle elements in the Associations out of jealousy,
 
My Father  reviewed to me  as his only  Son  and child of a deposit of huge amount of  US$ 5.5M (Five million, five hundred thousand united states dollars)  which my late Father Mr David  Williams  deposited in one of the prime banks here in Abidjan Cote D'ivoire- West Africa, I  Beg  and seek your assistance in transferring this money to your position for investment purposes and my better live . I have all the vital documents that covers the deposit which could be faxed to you upon request.

Please note that Transaction of this nature demands the highest trust and confidence between both parties. For your assistance in this transfer, I have decided to give you 20% of the total sum involved and I will also compensate you with 5% for the inconveniences and for expenses that we may in cure during the process.

I look forward to hearing from you
Yours Sincerely,
Jonny Williams
Tele: +22507531361

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