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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 Prisca Ousmane." (may be fake)
Reply-To: <prisca_ousmane@hotmail.fr>
Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2010 02:39:14 +0200
Subject: Please this is for less privileged.

Hi Dear Friend this is my offer,

My Dear,

Please use this money for the churches 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.Prisca Ousmane,I'm a 65 years old woman and from Sierra Leone. I was a merchant and owned two businesses in Dubai. I was also married with two children.

My husband and two children died in a car accident six years ago,Before this happened, my business and concern for making money was all I live for. I never really cared about other values in life. But since the loss of my family, I have found a new desire to assist helpless families. I have been helping orphans in orphanage/motherless homes.

I have also donated some money for humanitarian needs in Sudan, South Africa, Cameroon, Brazil, Spain, Austria, Germany and some Asian countries. Only recently I saw on television the colossal loss of properties and livelihood people in Canberra, Australia through fire I was moving with great pity and compassion that I decided to make this contribution on assisting people over there, I kept $US18.5Million in a long-term deposit account in a Finance company. Presently, I'm in a hospital where I have been undergoing 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 in Australia and other charity organization.

Because my 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 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.

And also attach to me in your return mail your personal details for familiarity,May the good lord bless you.

1.Your Full Names.............

2.Your Age/ Sex............

3.Your Marital Status..........

4.Your Occupation...........

5.Your Mobile Numbers/Fax.............

If you are willing to help, please reply as soon as possible so i can send all the documents that are with here for the money .

May the good lord bless you and your family.
Regards,
Mrs.Prisca Ousmane.

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