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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: "Sarah Thomas" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrswulansarahthomas@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Tue, 9 Sep 2014 22:46:55 -0700
Subject: Re: Hello sweetheart!!

Hello sweetheart, i greet you and your family in the name of God Almighty. I am Mrs. Wulan Sarah Thomas. You don't know me yet but God Almighty know you more than i do before directing me to you and i know my God can not lead me astray. I know will surprised you how i get your email I.D but i want you to know that God work wonders and work in a miraculous way. After searching the internet, i came accros your email and i pray to God Almighty about it until i was satisfied and okay about it. The word of God say in Jeremiah 1:5, before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb i sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

For some months now i have been on the hospital bed getting treated for cancer of the lungs which has also affected my brain. I have also lost the ability to talk well. My condition is deteriorating at an alarming rate and according to my doctors, I may not live beyond the next two months. This is because the cancer has gotten to a very bad stage. Having being brought up at an orphanage, i was married to my late husband for twenty years without a child. We were fervent christians. My husband died in a fatal auto crash and i decided not to re-marry. Before my husband's demise, he had deposited 15,000,000USD with a bank in Indonesia.

Having searched for a reliable and God fearing person and having gotten your contact via prayers and painstaking efforts through searches i made on the internet. It is my last wish to contribute part of this wealth to the development of evangelism and charity in Africa, America, Europe and Asian Countries and i wish you could help carry out my last wish. I hope i can trust you cause so many people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." I Timothy 6:10. I pray the lord God give you the grace to do His will in Jesus name. Amen. I don’t want to die and leave my funds like this lady who left 13Million USD for a cat. Here is her link

http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/woman-leaves-13m-fortune-pet-cat-123953959.html

As soon as i receive your reply and assurance that you will do as i have said and, with your name, address and phone number, I shall be giving you more details about the fund. I hope to read back from you soon. It is well with you. Amen.

Mrs. Sarah Thomas

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