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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: Kathryn Fologo <kathyfologo@gmail.com>
Reply-To: Kathryn Fologo <realtim3_l4g@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Mon, 2 Feb 2015 20:41:59 +0900 (JST)
Subject: From Hospital / Very Urgent


Hello!
Happy New Year 2015
My name is Kathryn Fologo a sick woman with cancer of the breast and lung, I have to undergo surgery for the third time; at the moment the sum of $26,000 is required of me to travel to France for the surgery, but I am totally out of cash, therefore, why I contacted you is to help me claim the sum of $5, 400,000.00 that I inherited from my late husband that is presently in the bank.
 
I cannot have access to these funds because my late husband deposited it in a Fixed Deposit Account for a period of 10 years, but if I appoint a new beneficiary from abroad, the bank will release the money to the new beneficiary, without waiting for the 10 years to complete.
 
Please if you can help me claim this fund, I am ready to give you 30% of the total amount, then immediately the funds gets into your account, you will send me $30,000 for me to travel to France for the surgery, when I am through with the treatment, I will come to your country to get the remaining of my money.
 
If I hear back from you, I will send to you the documents of the fund and a power of attorney for you to claim the funds from the bank on my behalf.
 
I will wait to hear from you.
Regards,
Kathryn Fologo.

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