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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: "MARY SARY" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mary_sary@yahoo.es>
Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 13:46:09 -0800
Subject: PLEASE HELP ME TO REGAIN MY FREEDOM

Dear Friend
 
How are you doing this beautiful day! I hope all is well with you, Friendship cannot be measured in terms of material value, nor can it be explained through
 
our use of language, it is a thing that is felt deep within the heart, where no words can ever come close to the truth.
 
I want to use this opportunity to brief you little about myself, My Name is Mary Sary, I am single, 20 years old, born in Ghana, with no kid and never
 
married. 5 ft 8 inches Tall, 55 kg weight, black hair and brown eyes, fair in complexion, I have a nice family which I lost doing the war which was caused by
 
some Islamic group that took place my in country some years ago.
 
The rebels attacked our house early morning and killed my parents in a cold blood. It was only me and my little sister that survive this tragedy because I
 
wasn't around when it happened. I was a first year student then, studying Accounting at the University of Ghana and I managed to run to the refugee camp
 
where I'm presently seeking asylum under Government for the Refugee here in Cotonou , Republic of Benin, because the evils that killed my parents seize to
 
kill and take away my belongings .
 
I am Calm, Joyful, Honest, Sociable, Intelligent, Romantic, Kind and Tender. I enjoy Traveling, Having Rest on Nature, Meeting with Friends, Swimming, Tennis
 
Game, Poem, Driving, & Going to the Beach.
 
Also I love all kinds of music, mostly R & B, Blues, Hip Hop etc. I am a Simple & understanding girl who Cherish, Honesty, Tolerance, Love, Care and
 
Friendship, I am looking to meet someone who will first of all be my friend and maybe more than Friends later.
 
How you are this day and how is your country?  Mine is a little bit hot over here in Cotonou. In this camp we are only allowed to go out from the camp only
 
on Mondays and Fridays of the weeks. It’s just like one staying in the prison and I hope by Gods grace I will come out here soon, I don't have any relatives
 
now whom I can go to, all our relatives ran away in the middle of the war the only person I have now is Rev. Mark, who is the pastor of the (United Christian
 
Center) here in the camp,  he has been very nice to me since I came here but I am not living with him rather I am leaving in the woman's hostel because the
 
camp have two hostels one for men the other for women.
 
As a refugee here, I don't have any right or privileged to anything because it is against the law of this Muslim country.  I want to go back to my studies
 
because I only attended my first year before the tragic incident that lead to my being in this situation now took place.
 
Please listen to this, I have my late father's deposit certificate and death certificate here with me which I will send to you later, because when he was
 
alive he deposited some amount of money in a leading financial institution bank which he used my name as the next of kin, the amount in question is $9.5
 
Million dollars,(Nine Million Five  hundred  thousand dollars)  then I decided to contact you hoping that with your advanced knowledge we can be able to work
 
together, so that if all things works out for us, we can go into investment in your peaceful country. Though it took me time to make up my mind to contact
 
you.
 
Moreover I contacted the financial institution where this fund is deposited for them to advise me on what to do in order to have access to my late father's
 
property, the legal department of the institution told me that in a situation like mine, that the best solution is by soliciting for assistance of a reliable
 
foreigner who is trustworthy and faithful and who can assist me claim and receive the fund on my behalf.
 
 
I will attach the Deposit Certificate, the Death Certificate and I will also give you the institution details and info for your contact, please keep this to
 
yourself.
 
So I will like you to help me transfer this money to your account and from it you can send me some money for me to get my traveling documents and air ticket
 
to come over to meet with you in your country if you wish.
 
I kept this secret from people in the camp here the only person that knows about it is the Reverend Mark, because he is like a father to me here.
 
So in the light of above I will like you to keep it to yourself and don't tell it to anyone for I am afraid of losing my life and the money if people get to
 
know about it.
 
I like honest and understanding people, truthful and am a girl of vision, trustworthy and hardworking, my favorite language is English but our language here
 
is French but I speak English very fluently.
 
Have a nice day and God bless you as you help me and regain my freedom.
 
Please treat this as urgent so that I will forward you contact information to the bank to enable you contact the Bank.reply to this email mary_sary@yahoo.es
 
Waiting to hear from you soonest
 
yours faithfully.
Mary  Sary.

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