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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. Alicia Albelto" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrs.aliciaa@yahoo.com>
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2010 03:41:16 +0100
Subject: Hello my dear friend

Greetings to you,

I am Mrs. Alicia Albelto from Australia I am deaf and suffering from a longtime
cancer of the breast which also affected my whole body,from all indication my conditions is really deteriorating and it is quite obvious that I am dying,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. I was brought up from a motherless babies home
was married to my late husband for twenty years without a child,died in a fatal motor accident.Since his death I decided not to re-marry,I sold all my inherited belongings and deposited all the sum of $11.6million dollars with a Bank here in Canada.
Presently,this money is still with them and the management just wrote me as the true owner to come forward to receive the money for keeping it so long or rather issue a letter of authorization to somebody to receive it on my behalf since I can not come over because of my illness or they get it confiscated. I'm with my laptop in a hospital where I am having my treatment for cancer of the Breast I have since lost my ability to talk
and my doctors have told me that I have only a few months to live.
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 to also use this money to fund orphanages and
widows,I took this decision,before i rest in peace because my time will soon be up.
As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of the Security Company.
I will also issue you a letter of authority that will proove you as the new beneficiary of my
fund.Please assure me that you will act accordingly as i stated here in.
Waiting for your
reply.
Mrs. Alicia Albelto

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