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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: Madam Mariam <g.mujuru56@gmail.com>
Date: 17 Mar 2012 04:12:41 +0100
Subject: Hi

Dear Mr I'm Mrs Mariam Zineb Wuru the wife of the minister of finance whom is late right now(Abdel-Rahim Wuru).My husband died some time ago during a political tussle in our country Kenya.My husband happens to be late Abdel-Rahim Mohamed Wuru that has been killed along with at least 21 other and i must say that am very sorry if this mail will sound like a disturbance to you.I will never have contacted you if everything was alright like it used to be when my husband was alife.I'm a mother of 3 kids 2 boys and a girl but presently i am only left with my youngest child because my only daughter was killed along side with his father and brother. The reason why i am contacting you through this mail,is as a result of the occurance of the untimely death of my beloved husband and the situation at hand.My husband died on the 18th Jan 2011 during an attack from his political opponet.Immediatly after the death of my husband,his brothers came as a sheep in lion clothening and i been a woman that i am,i never knew that i can be easily decieved.A family meeting was made that i have to bring the will of my husband to the family and as a faithful wife that i am i did but after some few days i was told to let go of all properties that was owned by my late husband and they all drove me out to nothing with a treat of to kill me if i return back to any of the houses that he built.I thought that is the shock of the death of my husband their brother that was the cause but never knew that they had a motive of claiming all asset that belongs to my husband and been that they have the will of my beloved husband,they now have access to his bank as well as all his properties.On the 6th of march,my own inlaws killed my eldest son who is supposed to inherrite his own fathers property.After the incident i was made to know that i am and my last child is next on the list,of which my God will never let that happen to me. 3 years ago my husband told me that he has a plan to deposit some money in a security company,I supported him because it's a good decision and he personally handed the document of ownership to me,since am the only one that is aware of the deposition of the $35.5Million.I decided to run down to a country in north africa to seek refuge under the united nation and i was accepted here.The money was deposited in a security company for safe keeping.Right now,please i will need your help,for you to help me invest the money in your country and i would want to come down to your country with my only surviving child after the investment for the safety of my our lifes.I hope that i will hear from you soon so that i will know what to do because my my only surviving son also here with me,i need to give him a better life and a good future as well.i am ready to give you %10 of the total money for appreciation %5 for any expenses incured and i want you to know that you will be standing as the sole beneficiary to my family.I need you to send me your full name,Age,Occupation,What we are to invest into and a copy of your i.d or picture for proer identification.I need you to keep this as a secret.I hope to hear from you. Your's Sincerly, Mrs Mariam Zineb Wuru

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