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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: "Mrs.Grace Wood" <zenba@triton.ocn.ne.jp>
Reply-To: "Mrs.Grace Wood" <mrs.gracewood@superposta.com>
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2014 03:39:49 +0900 (JST)
Subject: MY DEAR BELOVED,


MY DEAR BELOVED,

HEAVENLY GREETINGS IN THE NAME OF GOD,
PLEASE LET THIS NOT SOUND STRANGE TO YOU, I PRAYED AND GOT YOUR EMAIL ID
FROM THE INTERNET. I AM MRS.GRACE WOOD FROM SOUTH AFRICA. I AM 58 YEARS
OLD I AM SUFFERING FROM ALONG TIME CANCER OF THE LUNGS WHICH ALSO
AFFECTED MY BRAIN, FROM ALL INDICATION MY CONDITIONS IS REALLY
DETERIORATING AND IT IS QUITE OBVIOUS THAT, ACCORDING TO MY DOCTORS THEY
HAVE ADVISED ME THAT I MAY NOT LIVE FOR THE NEXT TWO MONTHS, THIS IS
BECAUSE THE CANCER STAGE HAS GOTTEN TO A VERY BAD STAGE. I WAS BROUGHT
UP FROM A MOTHERLESS BABIES HOME, WAS MARRIED TO MY LATE HUSBAND FOR
TWENTY YEARS WITHOUT A CHILD, BEFORE MY HUSBAND DIED IN A FATAL MOTOR
ACCIDENT FEW YEARS AGO.

SINCE HIS DEATH I DECIDED NOT TO
RE-MARRY; HENCE I SOLD ALL MY INHERITED BELONGINGS AND (FIXED) DEPOSITED
ALL MONEY REALIZED (US$10,200,000.00) IN THE BANK. PRESENTLY, THIS
MONEY IS STILL WITH THE BANK AND THE MANAGEMENT JUST WROTE ME AS THE
TRUE OWNER TO COME FORWARD AND BRAKE THE DEPOSIT WHICH HAS BEEN OVER DUE
OTHERWISE ISSUE A LETTER OF AUTHORIZATION TO SOMEBODY TO RECEIVE IT ON
MY BEHALF SINCE I CAN NOT COME OVER BECAUSE OF MY PRESENT HEALTH
CONDITION OR THEY GET IT CONFISCATED.

PRESENTLY, I'M WITH MY
LAPTOP IN A HOSPITAL IN SWITZERLAND WHERE I HAVE BEEN UNDERGOING
TREATMENT FOR CANCER OF THE LUNGS. MY DOCTORS HAVE TOLD ME THAT I HAVE
ONLY A FEW MONTHS TO LIVE. IT IS MY LAST WISH TO SEE THAT THIS MONEY IS
INVESTED TO ANY ORGANIZATION OF YOUR CHOICE AND DISTRIBUTED EACH YEAR
AMONG THE CHARITY ORGANIZATION, THE POOR AND THE MOTHERLESS BABIES HOME.
I WANT YOU AS GOD FEARING PERSON, TO ALSO USE THIS MONEY TO FUND
CHURCHES, ORPHANAGES AND WIDOWS. I TOOK THIS DECISION, BEFORE I REST IN
PEACE BECAUSE MY TIME WILL SO ON BE UP.

AS SOON AS I RECEIVE
YOUR REPLY I SHALL GIVE YOU THE CONTACT OF THE BANK OFFICER IN CHARGE OF
THE FUNDS. I WILL ALSO ISSUE YOU A LETTER OF AUTHORIZATION, AUTHORIZING
THE BANK TO ALLOW YOU BREAK THE DEPOSIT AND TRANSFER THE FUNDS TO YOU
AS THE NEW BENEFICIARY OF MY ESTATE. PLEASE ASSURE ME THAT YOU WILL ACT
ACCORDINGLY AS I STATED HEREIN. YOU ARE REQUESTED TO SEND TO ME THE
FOLLOWING INFORMATION TO ENABLE ME USE IT TO WRITE A LETTER OF
AUTHORIZATION ON YOUR BEHALF TO THE BANK SO THAT THEY WILL RELEASE THE
MONEY TO YOU AS MY NEXT OF KIN.

FULL NAMES: ……………………………………………………..………………………
ADDRESS: ……………………………………….………………………………………..
SEX: ………………………………………………………………………………………….
AGE: ……………………………………………………………………………………….
MARITAL: …………………………………………………………………………………
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: ………………………………………………………………..
HOME PHONE NO: ……………………………………….……………………………
OFFICE TEL: …………………………………………………………………………….
MOBILE NUMBER: ……………………………………………………………………..
OCCUPATION: ………………………………………………………..…..……….……

PLEASE REPLY ME THROUGH THIS MY PRIVATE: mrs.gracewood@superposta.com. HOPING TO HEAR FROM YOU SOON.

YOURS IN CHRIST,
MRS. GRACE WOOD


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