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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: Christian Zakaria <berrada.t@hotmail.fr>
Date: Fri, 9 Aug 2013 12:36:13 +0000
Subject: =?windows-1256?Q?Hello_My_D?= =?windows-1256?Q?ear_I_Need?=
=?windows-1256?Q?_Your_Urge?= =?windows-1256?Q?nt_Respond?=
=?windows-1256?Q?.=FE?=

Hello My Dear,

My name is Miss Christian Zakaria. I am the only child of Mr. Paul Zakaria, a wealthy cocoa tycoon who died as a result of food poisoning suspected to be given to him by the plans of his colleaques and relatives because of his fame and wealth. My mother died when I was 6 years old. Since the death of my father, my father's lawyer informed me that I inherited a financial fortune of $3,500,000) Three million five hundred thousand United State Dollars that was deposited in one of the prime banks here.

Since I inherited this fortune, I've been receiving a threatening note that purportedly came from my uncles and I am really afraid that something bad would happen to me if I dd not take precautions. That is the reason why I am contacting you to help me in the transfer of my late fathers money into your country.

I am just a young girl of 19 years old and there is nothing i could do on my own because of my youthfulness, so I need your full support and geniune assistance so that I can present you to my late father's bank as my foreign partner and foreign guardian that will help me receive the transfer of my inherited fortune for investment purposes in your country through your advise and management.

I do not know what percentage offer would you like to receive for helping me.

As a matter of urgency, I would like you to get back to me about your opinion whether you'll agree to help me or not.

Sincerely,

Miss Christian Zakaria.

Anti-fraud resources: