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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: CHERYL HOWARD <cheryl.howard6@btinternet.com>
Reply-To: cheryl.howard@hotmail.com
Date: Sun, 9 May 2010 22:20:26 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: Hello



Dear Friend,
Please use this money for the Work of God  and less privileged.
Greetings to you and your family in the name of God.
In my search for a reliable and God fearing person and having gotten
your contact through prayers and painstaking efforts I have decided to
seek your help in carrying out my last wishes. My name is Mrs Cheryl Howard. I'm a 50 years old woman and from Norfolk Islands. I was a
merchant and owned chains of investments in Dubai.
I was also married but barren.
I was moving with great pity and compassion that I
decided to make this contribution on assisting people over there, I kept
US$47,000,000.00 million  in one of the Security Company in Europe. Presently, I'm
in a hospital where I have been undergoing medical treatment for
oesophagi cancer. 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 victims of the fire outbreak and other charity organization. Because relatives and friends have
plundered so much of my wealth since my illness, I cannot live with the
agony entrusting this huge responsibility to any of them. rather to the children of God.
Please, I beg you in the name of God to help me
collect the deposit and  distributes it accordingly. Use your judgment
to distribute the money and keep 30% of it to yourself. Feel free to
reimburse yourself when you have the money for any cost you incur during
the process of collecting and distributing the money. If you are willing
to help, please reply me at (cherylhoward50@mail2howard.com) as soon as possible. May God bless you and your entire family ,Amen.
Respectfully,
Mrs Cheryl Howard

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