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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: "Mrs Irene John" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <irene_john001@sify.com>
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 2009 23:52:42 +0100
Subject: Dear Beloved Friend!!!!

Dear Blessed One,


Greetings to you blessed one!. As you read through my message, I do not want
you to feel pity or sorry for me, for I believe someday,somehow, we will all
surely die, this is about mine, and a last wish. My name is Mrs.
Irene John,

a Citizen of the United Kingdom Uk, I am a 57 years old woman.I am diagnosed of
Cancer of the Larynx and it is terminal, medical science can not do anything
for me at this stage. I believe in miracles because I believe in
GOD, however I prefer to pass on at this stage since I am bed ridden and in constant pain.
Before this happened my business and concern for making money was all I lived
for. I never really cared about other values in life. But since my present
situation, I have found a new desire to assist helpless families.



I have been helping orphans in orphanage/motherless homes. I have once donated
some money to orphans in war ravaged Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan and some East
European Countries and Africa. Having known my condition I decided to entrust my
last funds I have deposited in Citibank London Uk( USD 5.5 MILLION) to either a
philanthropic or devoted individual hat will use his judgement to distribute
the money to charity organizations and feel free to reimburse
yourself when you have the money,for any cost you incur during the process of collecting and
distributing the money to charity organizations.



I have left the hospital and presently at home, I have since lost my ability
to talk and my doctors have told me that I have only few months to
live. It is my last wish to see this money distributed to charity organizations, because I
don't have any child and my relatives and friends has plundered so much of
my wealth since my illness, I cannot live with the agony of
entrusting this huge responsibility to any of them.Please, I beg you in the name of God to help me
collect the deposit and distribute it amongst charity organizations. Since my
health is retrogressing by the minute, you will have to send your; (POSTAL
ADDRESS, CONTACT PHONE NUMBER AND FAX) and a little details about yourself,
because I got your address from the Internet afteri was Directed by the Lord thorough search With the
information, I will make arrangement to prepare the authorization through an
Attorney for you to get possession of the Deposit. I will give you
the name and

contact of the Bank where the money is lodged in London Uk thereafter, so
you can claim.


Until I hear from you,I pray that this letter bring you and your family good
tidings. Please reply as soon possible Looking forward to hearing from you
soonest.


Regards,


Mrs.Irene John

My Email is irene_john001@sify.com

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