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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.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "Grace Richard" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <grace_@voila.fr>
Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2013 18:11:04 -0000
Subject: From Miss Grace Richard

<HTML><HEAD><TITLE></TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgcolor=#FFFFFF leftmargin=5 topmargin=5 rightmargin=5 bottommargin=5>
<FONT size=2 color=#000000 face="Arial">
<DIV>
Hello I made this request with tears in my eyes and I believe that the spirit of God, the Almighty will touch you to hear my cry and to solve my problem, because I cry with hope of getting an answer to this problem will give me the joy of life that i lost since the demise of my parents. I am Richard Grace, first daughter of my late parents Mr. and Mrs. Pascal Richard, since me my little brother are the only children of our late parents, they took us so special and provided all we needed in life. My father trader of coffee and cocoa-operator a residence in Abidjan, Cote d 'Ivoire. My father was shot last two years during the civil war in my country (Ivory COAST). My mother having died since we were very little, and since then my father has taken good care of us. Before his death in a private hospital in Abidjan, told me he had deposited a large sum of money, about Four million Five Hundred Thousand U.S. dollars ($4.500.000) </DIV>
<DIV>
&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>
in a bank and he used my name as his eldest daughter as Next of Kin to the deposited fund, He also wished that I and my brother will manage this wealth, but I'm looking for a partner abroad to transfer this amount since the bank would not allow us access to the fund, where we will continue our studies and invest in a profitable business areas such as real estate or hotels. I humbly request your assistance in the following manner: -To serve as custodian of these funds since I am only 18 years. -To help us migrate to your country so we can finish our studies. Thus said, I am ready to offer you a 10% of the Fund for all your efforts after the transfer into your bank account, i have all the documents related to this deposit. Furthermore, you indicate your interest to help me, do let me know, I believe that this transaction can be done as soon as possible. thus I leave you hoping to read soon. You can contact me upon receipt of this message through my e-mail: grace_@voila.fr</DIV>
<DIV>
&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>
Thank you</DIV>
<DIV>
Grace Richard</DIV>
</FONT>
</BODY></HTML>

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