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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: "Cristina Dunne" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <larmartiiinss@aol.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 17 May 2010 19:56:07 +0100
Subject: Urgent.

My Dear Friend,

Please, relax and read my mail. My name is Cristina Dunne, who is diagnosed with oesophageal cancer. To cut the long story short, I have few hours left to live, depending on my surgery which will take place soon.Although I am rich, but it doesn’t matter anymore. I want God to be merciful to me and accept my soul and so with that reason I decided to give what I have to charity and I never had children.

I want this to be one of the last good deed on earth. I now give you the authority to dispatch my last funds to any charity of your choice. I want you to keep fifty percent of this amount for yourself and time, while you keep the other fifty percent to any charity of your choice.

You can contact my lawyer who will assist you in getting the funds to you. He would give you more details. His name is Larry Martin, and his email address ( larmartiiinss@aol.co.uk ) He would guide you through receiving the funds.

Lot of Love,

Cristina

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