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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: melissa jean <melissajean1026@att.net>
Reply-To: melissa.jean@gmx.com
Date: Wed, 24 Nov 2010 17:46:20 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Hello dear,




Hello dear,



Complement of the day to you, please pardon me if i interfere into your privacy, my name is Melissa Jean, Age 24, height 5 ft 11 inches, weight 61, i am the only daughter of Late Dr. Jean Kone from The Republic of Côte d'Ivoire in west Africa, my father was a business tycoon and a politician. I observed you are an important personality before i made up my mind to contact you. Please i will like to know more about you because i have with me some funds which i will like to invest in a good business over there in your country. I wish you could be honest to me so that i can go into this investment with you by my self and i will also need your good advices.



First of all, I will like to know what you do for a living; remember you caught my attention that was why i contacted you in the first place. We will know ourselves more as we communicate along.



Thanks for your understanding, hoping to hear from you soon.



From my heart,

Melissa Jean

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