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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: Mercy Batista <mercybatista25@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 23 May 2010 06:40:31 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: PLEASE MY DEAR I NEED YOUR HELP.


My Dearest,
 
  I am writing this mail to you With due respect
trust and humanity, i appeal to you to exercise a little patience and read
through my letter i feel quite safe dealing with you in this important business
, honestly i am writing this email to you with pains, tears and sorrow from my
heart, i will really like to have a good relationship with you and i have a
special reason why i decided to contact you, i decided to contact you due to the
urgency of my situation,
 
My name is Miss Mercy Batista Tagme Na Waie a
25 years old female from the Republic of Guinea Bissau, the daughter of Late
General Batista Tagme Na Waie. My late father was the chief of staff of the army
of Guinea-Bissau. On March 1, 2009, My late father was killed in a bomb attack
when the military's headquarters were attacked. What led to the cold blood
killing is still unclear but I know that my father life was the target. You can
read more about my father in the bbc link below. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/ tol/news/world/africa/ article5829228.ece
 
I
am constrained to contact you because of the maltreatment which I am receiving
from my step mother. She planned to take away all my late father's treasury and
properties from me since the unexpected death of my beloved Father. Meanwhile I
wanted to travel away but she hide away my international passport and other
valuable documents. Luckily she did not discover where I kept my father's File
which contained important documents. Now I am presently staying in the refugee
camp Mission here in Burkina Faso. I am seeking for long term relationship and
investment assistance. My Father of blessed memory deposited the sum of US$
8.5USD Million in one bank in Burkina Faso with my name as the next of kin.

 
I had contacted the Bank to clear the deposit but the Branch Manager
told me that being a refugee, my status and according to the law does not
authorize me to carry out the operation and again according to the instruction
my late Father pass to them that i most present a foreign partner who will stand
on my behalf as a trustee. However, he advised me to provide a trustee who will
stand on my behalf.
 
Therefore, I decide to seek for your help in
transferring the money into your bank account while I will relocate to your
country and settle down with you and complete my studies while you will help me
and invest the fund. As you indicated your interest to help me I will give you
the account number and the contact of the bank where my late beloved father
deposited the money with my name as the next of kin. It is my intention to
compensate you with 40% of the total money for your assistance and the balance
shall be my investment in any profitable venture which you will recommend to me
as have no any idea about foreign investment. Please all communications should
be through this email address only for confidential purposes.
 
Thanking
you a lot in anticipation of your quick response. I will give you details in my
next mail after receiving your acceptance mail to help me.
 
Yours
sincerely,
Mercy Batista Tagme.



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