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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: Miss Marie Richard <miss.iboadasaraibrahim@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: missmarie.richard@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:27:45 -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 Miss Marie Richard, Age 24, height 5 ft 11 inches, weight 61, i am the only daughter of Late Mr. Franck Richard from ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast 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,
Miss Marie Richard
Hallo liebe,
 
Ergänzung des Tages an Sie, bitte verzeihen Sie mir, wenn ich stören in Ihre Privatsphäre, mein Name ist Fräulein Marie Richard, Alter 24, Höhe 5 ft 11 Zoll, Gewicht 61 ist, bin ich die einzige Tochter des Late Mr. Franck Richard von Abidjan, Elfenbeinküste in Westafrika, war mein Vater ein Wirtschaftsmagnat und Politiker. Ich beobachtete Sie sind eine wichtige Persönlichkeit, bevor ich mich entschloß, Sie zu kontaktieren. Bitte ich werde gerne mehr über Sie wissen, weil ich mit mir einige Fonds, die Ich mag, um in ein gutes Geschäft dort investieren in Ihrem Land haben wird. Ich wünschte, du könntest ehrlich zu mir, damit ich in diese Investition mit dir gehen kann durch mich selbst und ich werde auch deine guten Ratschläge.
 
Zunächst wird Ich mag wissen, was Sie für ein Leben tun, erinnern Sie sich meine Aufmerksamkeit erregte das war, warum ich Sie kontaktiert den ersten Platz. Wir kennen uns mehr als wir zusammen kommunizieren.
 
Vielen Dank für Ihr Verständnis, in der Hoffnung, von Ihnen bald zu hören.
 
Von meinem Herzen,
Fräulein Marie Richard

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