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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.Catherine Liu" (may be fake)
Date: Tue, 21 Sep 2010 06:52:28 -0700
Subject: Hello

Dearest One,

May the greetings of Lord be with you, Please, I am Mrs Catherine Liu from Malaysia, I got married to my late husband Mr.Tao Liu.I am 74years old,now a new Christian convert, suffering from long time cancer of the breast, from all indications,the doctor confirmed to me that my condition is deteriorating and is quite obvious that I won't live more than 3 months because the cancer has gotten to a very bad stage. I`ve decided to divide part of this wealth, to contribute to the development of the church in Africa, America and Europe. I hope that this money when transferred will be used for the said purpose.

My late husband died in a auto crash,and during the period of our marriage we couldn't produce any child.Before his death two years ago i have been suffering from cancer of breast, which I have tried my best to have it cure but no solution after all the treatment which I have been taking, but to my greatest surprise some days ago my doctor told me that I may not live more than 2 months as the result of the sickness. And we deposited the sum of $10.7m dollars in one of the Bank in Europe for our business.

I was touched in spirit to donate the money to you, to use it for the good work of God. Please write back soon for better explanation. I am waiting for your response.

Best Regards,
Mrs Catherine Liu

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