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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: "Mrs. Mariam Almaleek" <jamal-bahrain@hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, 2 May 2015 16:48:13 +0100
Subject: From Mrs. Mariam


Dear Sir
Permit me to introduce myself and my reason for contacting you. My name is Mrs. Mariam Almaleek from Cote d`Ivoire in the West African sub-region. I am a widow and mother of two female children age, 6 and 3 years respectively. My late husband was an influential businessman in the field of Gold mining and exporting overseas but he died in a hastily car accident on his way to the airport in 2013.After the tragic death of my husband his relatives became hostile to me and my little kids which forced us to abandon my husband`s house to take refuge in this remote part of Abidjan in fear of our lives. The reason I have contacted you is to solicit your assistance to claim huge sums of money my husband deposited in a bank here before his tragic death and to help me invest the funds into Real Estate Business or any business of your choice in your country so I could come there with my kids to start a new life. The funds is the only thing that left for me to give my kids the standard of education and good lives my husband had planned for them and I need your help to claim and to invest it in a good business in your country where it will yield future profits. Please I am begging you to keep this matter strictly confidential to avoid my late husband relatives who will not hesitate to eliminate me if they get to know about this deposit.
I am going to give you more details about the deposit once I get your response indicating your willingness to help me.
Thanks and God bless
Mrs. Mariam Almaleek

Anti-fraud resources: