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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: "H. KARAM." <salwa11@myfairpoint.net>
Reply-To: zabdullah316@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2014 17:32:39 +0300
Subject: NATURAL CALL.


- This mail is in HTML. Some elements may be ommited in plain text. -

Beloved one,
I am Mrs.Salwa Karam a citizen of Kuwait but currently undergoing a medical treatment in the United Kingdom. I was married to Late Farooq Karam of blessed memory who was an oil explorer in Kuwait and Angola for twelve years before he died in the year 2009. We were married for twelve years without a child; he died after a brief illness that lasted for only four days. Since his death I too have been battling with both Diabetes and Cancer of the system cases. When my late Husband was alive he deposited a substantial amount of money worth US$25.5Million with a bank in the United Kingdom which I inherited after his death.

Presently, this money is still with the bank and the management just wrote me to come forward and claim my money because they have kept it for so long or rather issue a letter of authorization to somebody to receive it on my behalf since I can not come over because of my illness or they get it confiscated.
Few days ago, my doctors told me I have only a few months to live.It therefore becomes my last wish to see that this money is invested to any organization of your choice and distributed each year among the charity organizations,the poor and the motherless babies homes. I took this decision because I don?t have any child to inherit this fund and my husband's relatives are into radical organization coupled with the fact that non of them have cared for me ever since my husband's death and I wouldn't want a situation where this fund would be used in an unholy manner, hence the reasons for this bold decision. Please, pray for me to recover as your prayers can always go a long way in uplifting my spirit.

I don?t need any telephone communication in this regard because of my health condition which has seriously affected my speech and also because of the presence of my husband?s relatives always around me . I don?t want them to know about this plans because they are only waiting upon my final breath (death) to claim/share the applicable fund.

As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of the Bank.I will also issue you a letter of authority that will prove you as the new beneficiary of my fund.
Provide me with your information so i can send it to the bank as the new beneficiary and issue you a letter of authorization.
FULL NAMES:__________SEX: _____ AGE: ______MARITAL STATUS:_______________COUNTRY: ______
CONTACT ADDRESS: ________________________PHONE NO#___________FAX
NO#_________________OCCUPATION:______________
Note that any delay in your reply may give room to sourcing for another person/body for this same reason.
Until I hear from you,my dreams will rest squarely on your shoulders.
Remain blessed,
Mrs. Salwa Karam.

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