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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: "Inna. P" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <ina.pattt@googlemail.com>
Date: Wed, 23 Dec 2009 09:47:08 +0100
Subject: Please Acknowledge (Merry Christmas!!!)

Greetings,

I know that this mail will get to you as a surprise but it was due to a matter of necessity I contacted you over a business proposal which will be of great benefit. Let me quickly introduce myself, I am Mrs. Inna Gudavadze, the wife of late Mr. Badri Patarkatsishvili a Georgian billionaire and classified as the richest man in Georgia until his death. I really don’t like discussing these but since I am in desperate need for assistance, I have to explain in detail for your better understanding. He died at about 10.45 pm, Tuesday February 12, 2008 at our Surrey mansion. Aged 52, a month after running unsuccessfully for the Georgian presidency, he was one of the "oligarchs" who made a fortune from the privatization of state-owned industries during the Yeltsin era and eventually found a haven in Britain, where he was recently linked to a possible bid for West Ham football club.

You can read more for your better understanding in the below websites:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1578596/Badri-Patarkatsishvili.html

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/177933.html

I am currently battling with the Georgian authorities, my husband's cousin and his solicitors over his wealth because he didn’t leave any will behind, this has made life so frustrating for me and my two lovely daughters. As a result of my struggle with the authorities, all my banks accounts, both foreign accounts were frozen and properties confiscated except for a profiling cash amount of eighty eight million five hundred thousand United States dollars that my late husband deposited as diplomatic baggage with a European firm shortly before he died, i have all documents relating to these deposit, hence the reason i contacted you to help and stand as a beneficiary to retrieve the above quoted sum as my representative. I know that you will be amuse by this offer and i should trust a complete stranger instead of doing this myself, however considering the present circumstance i find myself, i am been monitored and any mistake made could lead to immediate exposure and confiscation of these funds, hence the reason

If you know you can do this, contact me immediately via my secured email so that I can furnish you with more details but if my plea for assistance is not appealing to you, please delete this message and forget I ever contacted you.

Thanks for your understanding.

Yours truly,
Mrs. Inna G. Patarkatsishvili.

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