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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: "Mr. X" <xx@yy>
Reply-To: mrspatricia51@yahoo.co.jp
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 2015 11:20:37 -0500
Subject: Reply now it's very urgent.


Greetings of peace and happiness to you, My name is Mrs Patricia Santiago,=
I am terminally ill and have decided to donate my inheritance from my husb=
and to you. No doubt, you may wonder how I got to know you and your informa=
tion, and what informed my decision to Will my fortune to you, Dear, you ha=
ve no cause to worry about these questions, I mean no harm. Regarding how I=
got your personal details, it is through the the help of the nurse assigne=
d to attend to me in my private ward in this hospital, because I cannot sur=
f on my own due to partial stroke, it is the nurse who surfs for me under m=
y direction because I feel to donate my fortune to an individual and your p=
rofile was chosen. I am 58 years old woman with no child and have been diag=
nosed of acute cancer for about 2 years now, shortly after the death of my =
husband here , which made me hypertensive and resulted in stroke. In my pre=
sent condition, life is without meaning to me and hope has since eluded me,=
each day I give my entire existence a thought, I feel over powered by gloo=
m and despair, also saw nothing but death lurking around, All these are my =
reasons for deciding on using anything in my name for charity in which co-i=
ncidentally you have been favored as the beneficiary. I must tell you that =
I was truly touched by my inner mind to take this decision action, and I wi=
ll advice you don't see your windfall as avenue for pleasure spree but shou=
ld see it as an opportunity to build and grow your personal finances to an =
enviable level and help others, for both your benefit and the benefit of ot=
hers, always put me in your prayers and ask God to forgive my sins and tres=
passes. I shall be undergoing major operations in less than two weeks from =
now and have willed my inheritance funds to you and to help the less-privil=
eged around you. If you are sure that you will use the donated fund as I ha=
ve advised here, get back to me for more details. Thanks and regards Mrs Pa=
tricia Santiago

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