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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: Michelle Darlington <michelledarlington2012@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Sat, 8 Feb 2014 14:55:38 +0000
Subject: I await your urgent response From Michelle Darlington

Dearest one,

First of all, I seek your indulgence to solicit for your assistance
concerning the content of my e-mail, although I am not comfortable
discussing it through this manner, due to lots of unsolicited mails on the
internet presently, but after going through your profile and I prayed over
it and selected your name among other names due to the nature of my
proposal,which requires a reputable and trustworthy person. Someone who
will be kind and sincere to me.

l am Miss Michelle Darlington, the only daughter of late Mr and Mrs
Alexander Darlington. My father was a very wealthy cocoa merchant in
Abidjan here, the economic capital of Ivory Coast, he was poisoned to death
by his only brother (My Uncle) and his business associates on one of their
business meeting. My mother died on the 20th October 1992 and my father
took me so special because l am motherless.

Before the death of my father on 10th December 2010 in a private hospital
here in Abidjan, he secretly called me on his bedside, when I sat down to
listen to him, he started crying, when I asked him why?
(1) He complained that I am too young to be managing my life with no one to
take care of me.
(2) That I have not finished my university education as he planned for me,
he revealed to me that he has a sum of $10,000,000 Million USD (Ten million
united states dollars) left in a security company here in Abidjan, that he
used my name as the only daughter for his next of kin in deposit of the
funds.

He also explained to me that it was because of this wealth that he was
poisoned by his only brother (My Uncle) and his business associates , that
l should stay away from them as they are evil he warned me seriously not to
associate with his brother that is my uncle, that I should seek for a God
fearing foreign partner in a country of my choice where l will transfer
this money and use it for proper investment purpose ,that I must finish my
university education by the help of a business partner abroad and a
guardian ,that he or she should help me obtain a resident permit in his or
her country.

He also gave a standing instruction to the company that the deposit must be
transferred outside this country. According to my father, the money was
deposited as art works to avoid attracting attention to the deposit.

I am now ready to do all these since my father my bread winner is no more.
l am honorable seeking your assistance in the following ways.

(1) To serve as my guardian in your country while I will depend on your
expert advise since l am a girl of 20 years.
(2) To make arrangement for me to come over to your country in order to
further my university education and to secure a residential permit for me
in your country.
Moreover , l am willing to offer you 15% of the total sum as compensation
for your assistance in the transfer of this deposit to your country.
Furthermore, you can indicate your option towards assisting me as l
believed that this project would be concluded within seven days you signify
interest to assist me by contacting the security company.

Hoping to hearing from you soon. May God bless you as you extend your
helping hand to the needy.

Best wishes
Michelle Darlington.

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