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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: "Mrs Willie Sandra" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <s.willie231@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 2010 11:51:34 -0500
Subject: Happy New Year...

Greetings in the name of God,I am Mrs Willie Sandra,I am 51 years old,i am deaf and suffering from a long time cancer of the lungs which also affected my brain,from all indication my conditions is really deteriorating and it is quite obvious that, according to my doctors they have advised me that i may not live for the next two months,this is because the cancer stage has gotten to a very bad stage. Presently, I'm with my laptop in a hospital where I have been undergoing treatment. I have since lost my ability to talk.My husband died in a fatal motor accident.Before his death we were true Christians. Since his death I decided not to re-marry,I sold all my inherited belongings and deposited all the sum of $18.5USD with a Security Company.It is my last wish to see that this money is invested to any organization of your choice and distributed each year among the charity organization,the poor and the motherless babies home where i come from.I want you God fearing, to also use thi!
s money to fund churches, orphanag
God bless.
Mrs Willie Sandra.

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