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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: mwilson1@terra.com
Date:
Subject:

Dearest Beloved,
 
After going through your profile I decided= to contact you for friendship and assistance and distribution of my inheri= tances have to say that I have no intentions of causing you any Pains so I = decided to contact you through this medium. I got your Contact through a pe= rsonal search via the internet.
 
As you read this, I don't want= you to feel sorry for me, because, I Believe everyone will die someday but= the most important thing here is that I am dying in the Lord.
 My name is Mrs.Mary Wilson I am a dying woman who have decided to donate W= hat I have to you/ church/charity Organizations. I am 54 years old and I wa= s diagnosed with oesophageal Cancer for about 7 Years ago and now I cannot = hear and speak anymore, I am married to Sir Gerald Wilson Owen who worked w= ith British Judicial Commission in Chelsea England for over a decade and al= so worked at the british consulate at Abidjan Cote d Ivoire  before he= died on 5th of July in the year 1989. We were married for fifteen years wi= thout a child and he has left me everything he worked for.
 
I h= ave not particularly lived my life so well, as I never really cared For any= one. Though I am very rich, I was never generous, I was always hostile to p= eople and only focus on my self as that was the only thing I Cared for.
=  
But now I regret all this as I now know that there is more to lif= e than just wanting to have or make all the money in the world. I believe w= hen God gives me a second chance to come to this world I would live my life= a different way from how I have lived it. Now that I know My time is near = I have been touched by God to donate from what I have Inherited from my lat= e husband for the good work of God, rather than Allow my relatives to use m= y husband hard earned funds ungodly.
 
Now that my health has de= teriorated so badly, I cannot do this my self any more. I once asked member= s of my family to Close one of my accounts and donate the money, which I ha= ve there to Charity organization in Bulgaria; they refused and kept the mon= ey to themselves.  Hence, I do not trust them anymore, as they seem no= t to be contended With what I have left for them. The last of my money whic= h is the huge Cash deposit of $3,000,000.00 Three Million United States Dol= lars that I have with Financial Firm in Abidjan Cote D Ivoire.
 I will want you to Help me collect this deposit and dispatched it to chari= ty organizations And let them know that it is me Mary Wilson that is making= this Generous donation.
 
I am writing this from my laptop comp= uter in my hospital bed where I wait for my time to come. I pray that God u= ses you to support and assist me with good heart Please pray that the good = Lord forgives me my sins. I have asked God to Forgive me and I believe he h= as because He is a merciful God. I will be going in for an operation in les= s than few days. I decided to WILL/donate the money to you for the good wor= k of the lord, And also to help the motherless and less privilege and also = for the Assistance of the widows according to (JAMES 1:27).
 
I = took this decision because I do not have any child that will inherit this m= oney and my husband relatives are not inclined to helping poor Persons and = I do not want my husband's hard earned money to be misused Or spent in the = manner in which my late husband did not specify.  At the moment I cann= ot take any telephone calls right now due to the Fact that I cannot talk or= hear anymore.
 
I wish you All the best and May the good Lord b= less you abundantly, and please use The funds well and always extend the go= od work to others. please send me your reply to this my private email addre= ss to enable me to give you instruction on what you have to do, mwilson01@t= erra.com
 
Regards,
Mary Wilson Mrs.

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