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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: Williams <linfons@mynet.com>
Reply-To: <wilindah@aim.com>
Date: Sat, 03 May 2014 03:31:50 +0100
Subject: Re: Resp sir

Hello dearest

Please permit my introduction. My name is Alfonso and my sister's name
is Linda. I am 19 years of age. I am from Republic of Sierra Leone. I
found your contact address through my late father's international
business directory and I decided to contact you to seek your kind
assistance in helping us to relocate to your country for further studies
and for investment of the money we inherited from our late father. We
lost our parents few months ago in a ghastly motor accident. My mother
died instantly when the accident happened but my father sustained a very
severe injury which resulted to his untimely death four days after he
was rushed down to a private hospital. May there soul rest in perfect
peace. My late father spent his whole life in the building and
construction industry as an engineer. He left behind for us eight
million three hundred thousand dollars which according to him he
realized from the execution of some government contracts that was
awarded to him and some of his colleagues in the office. Before he died
at the hospital he told me that he deposited the money in the bank in a
neighboring country called Ivory coast. He advised me not to let his
half brother to know about the money because he suspected he was the
person that masterminded the mysterious accident. He advised me to look
for somebody in a country of my choice abroad who can assist us and
secretly transfer the money abroad so that we can invest it in real
estate and distance his half brother.

We chose to finally relocate to your peaceful country with this money
so that you can guild us and invest it properly in real estate. We will
also further our college education. Now i am writing to seek your kind
help and advice if it will be possible for you to assist us achieve the
dream of relocating to your peaceful country with this money, for
investment of the money and further studies. Please if you cannot be
able to assist us to tranfer this money to your country, you tell me so
that l will look for another person because l sent this mail to you
before.

We are now in Ivory Coast and have succeeded in locating the bank where
my late father deposited the money and have identified ourself properly
and also informed them about the sad fate my parents had suffered. The
bank confirmed the deposit document and said that my late father
deposited the money in their bank escrow suspense account for safe keep.
So i will need your help in the following ways, to stand as our guardian
overseas and attest so that the bank can release and transfer the money
to your bank account and then make arrangement for a good business
investment which you will invest with the money on our behalf. I hope
with your help we will have the money successfully transferred to your
bank account and we will have a better life to live in your country
under your guardianship.

It is true that i do not know you in person but i pray and hope that
you have it in your heart to assist us with all sincerity and honesty.
You will guild us and invest the money and manage the investment until
we are capable. Please if you can help us, i will want you to send your
contact information that the bank can use to contact you so that i can
make your name available to the bank as my guardian overseas that will
attest on our behalf for the release of the money. I am willing to give
you any amount which you will wish to have after receiving the money in
your safe bank account. Thank you and May God bless you and your family
as you help us achieve our dream of relocating to your country to start
a new life and further our education under your guardianship.

Sincerely
Alfons & Linda Williams

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