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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: "sandra white" <sandra@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: martins002@9.cn
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 2009 15:12:42 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: urgent response needed

Beloved,

Please bear with me for sending you this just in case you are offended as
I know we don't know each other, but I beg you to proceed and read this
letter and I promise that you will not regret at the end of the day. I am
Mrs. Sandra White; the wife of Mr. Robert White, my husband was an
expatriate Contractor with Chevron/Texaco in Kenya for twenty years before
he died in the year 2003. We were married for ten years without a child.
My Husband died after a brief illness that lasted for only four days.

Before his death, he deposited the sum of US$7.5 Million (Seven Million
Five Hundred Thousand U.S. Dollars) in a 5 year one-time fixed deposit
account with a Bank in Europe. I will not mention the name of the bank
until you show interest in the transaction. Presently, this money is still
with the Bank and the management just wrote me as the next of
Kin/beneficiary to the account that it has become DORMANT since no
transaction has been operated on it since the completion of the 5 years
and if I, as the beneficiary of the funds, do not re-activate the account;
the funds will be CONFISCATED so I rather issue a
letter of authorization to somebody to activate the account and receive
the funds on my behalf since I can not come over. Presently, I'm in a
hospital in Kenya (I chose to remain here because I want to die closer to
nature) where I have been undergoing treatment for esophageal cancer. I
have since lost my ability to talk and my doctors have told me that I have
only a few weeks to live. It is my last wish to see this money is used to
build charity organizations, orphanages, churches and widows homes
anywhere in the World that might be in need of it. I have already donated
most of our wealth and properties here in Kenya to orphanages and widows.

I want you to be involved in this because of two reasons:

1. Relatives and friends have plundered so much of my wealth since my
illness; I cannot live with the agony of entrusting further this
responsibility to any one of them any more. I rather entrust the funds to
a stranger.

2. I want you to monitor and supervise how the funds will be used to
build charities, orphanages, churches and widow homes. My lawyer cannot
monitor this, his duty is to ensure that the funds are in your possession
(all attorney charges have been settled).

Please, I beg you to help me Stand-in as the beneficiary and collect the
Funds from the Bank. As soon as you have the funds in your possession,
simply use 80% to build charity organizations, orphanages, churches and
widows homes. The balance 20% will be payment for your job. I took this
decision because I don’t have a child and my relatives and inlaws have not
been so nice to me. Also note that communication will be by email as I
cannot communicate with you by phone because of my soundless voice and the
presence of my husbands’ relatives around me always. I don’t want them to
know about this development as I know all they are interested in is my
husband's wealth and not my health.

Again, for the role that you will play, you will be entitled to 20% of the
total funds (one, million, five hundred thousand dollars). 80% (six
million dollars) should be used to build charity organizations,
orphanages, churches and widows homes.


Hoping that you will assist me.
Mrs. Sandra White.


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