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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: skone4@terra.com
Date:
Subject:

Hi,
Good day, My Name Is Susan Kone, I am from Cote d Ivoire here in wes= t Africa, I am 16 years of age now and i am very sorry if my letter to you = will offend you, i lost my parents during this war that took place in my co= untry, My Late Father Mr Paul Kone was working with Cote d Ivoire Ministry = of mines and industry and that is where he made his futurn, i am the only c= hild of my parents and we are members of the Presbyterian Church  here= in my country, i am seeking your help to assist me to stand and represent = as my guardian to enable the bank that is holding my late fathers fix depos= it to release the fund to you as my guardian to enable me to come over to y= our country and finish my education and also for you to help me exterbilish= in your country. before my fathers death i was with him at the hospital an= d he disclosed to me about this deposit which is about 9.5million$ which my= father also gave me documents relating to this deposit, i have gone to the= bank but becuase of my age it did not work out, i want to move out from he= re because of the insecurity here. please i need your help as a foreigner s= o that i can present you to the bank as my foreign guardian to enable the b= ank to move my fathers deposit to your country.
If you can help me pleas= e get back to me with more detail information about you then we can move on= from there, please send your reply to my private email at/ skone01@terra.c= om
Thank you and may the True lord bless you with your family as i hope = to hear from you.
Yours Truly
Susan Kone

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