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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: "fathima" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <fathimsfred@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2012 14:57:23 +0200
Subject: dear friend

PLEASE ASSIST ME.
I am fathima hamad My husband was a driver for the Gaddafi family in Libya. My husband was captured and killed during the war in Libya by supporters of the national transition council. But before he died, he told me that he has hidden $6.5 million and 50 kilos of gold in the (ISLAMIC BANK of london) .I have therefore escaped to (ITALY,camp) with my son and daughter after my husband was murdered by the national transition council loyalists.These barbaric executions and the grotesque abuse of the corpse, especially the corpse of Gaddafi himself, makes it clear that no person affiliated with the former regime will be safe or receive a fair trial in Libya. This is why we had to escape from Libya.We want to invest the money and the gold to secure our future. We ask for your help . I will offer you 30% of both money and gold. Contact me if you accept my offer.but please can we trust you to help us to invest the money,can you be honesty to us when the money and the gold will be in your coustudly can you remembem al
Thanks dear friend.
Fathima fred.

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