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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: "Shawn" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <shawnleewilliamsss@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 23:29:40 -0700
Subject: Dear Friend

Dear Friend,
Greetings to you.
This mail might come to you as a surprise and the temptation to ignore it as
unserious could come into your mind; but please, consider it a divine wish
and accept it with a deep sense of humility. My name is SHAWN LEE WILLIAM
I,m a 59 years old man. I am British
living in Dubai (United Arab Emirate). I was a merchant and owned two
businesses in Dubai. I was also married with two children. My wife and two
children died in a car accident six years ago.
Before this happened my business and concern for making money was all I
lived for. I never really cared about other values in life. But since the
loss of my family, I have found a new desire to assist helpless families. I
have been helping orphans in orphanage/ motherless homes. I have donated
some money to orphans in Sudan, South Africa, Cameroon, Brazil, Spain,
Austria, Germany and some Asian countries. Before I became ill, I kept $40
Million in a long-term deposit account in a finance/security company .
Presently, I,m in a hospital where I have been undergoing treatment for
oesophageal cancer. I have since lost my ability to talk and my doctors have
told me that I have only a few months to live. It is my last wish to see
this money distributed to charity organizations. Because relatives and
friends have plundered so much of my wealth since my illness, I cannot live
with the agony of entrusting this huge responsibility to any of them.
Please, I beg you in the name of God to help me collect the deposit and the
interest accrued from the company and distributes it amongst charity
organizations. Use your judgement to distribute the money and feel free to
reinburse yourself when you have the money for any cost you incure during the
process of collecting and distributing the money to charity organizations. .
I,m willing to offer you a reward If you are willing to help; please reply
as soon as you can. May you and your family be bless.You contact me
through this personal email: shawnleewilliamsss@gmail.com
Regards,
SHAWN LEE WILLIAM

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