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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: =?UTF-8?B?Ikx5ZGlhIEsgS29uZXMi?= <onzurita@infovia.com.ar>
Date:
Subject:

Greetings To You My Dear One
 
With due respect, i want you t= o spare little of your time and carefully read my mail because i am writing= this mail to you with tears and sorrow from my heart. Please if for any re= ason you find this mail offensive you can ignore it and do accept my apolog= y for any inconvenience it may have cost you to read. I contact you after g= oing through your profile and my prayers over it in my search for a honest = and trusted one for help. My name is Miss Lydia Kipkalya Kones, 24years old= female from Kenya. I am the only daughter of Hon Dr. Kipkalya Kones the fo= rmer Kenyan Road Minister who died in a plane crashed on the Tuesday 10th, = June, 2008. You can read more about the crash with the link below:
http:= //edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/06/10/kenya.crash/index.html
 <= br>My predicaments started after the death of my father. After the burial o= f my father, my stepmother and uncle conspired and sold my father's propert= ies to foreign expert rate which they shared the money among themselves and= left nothing for me. I lost my mother long time ago, and since then i have= been through hard times in the hands of my step mother, it has been so tou= gh and sufferings for me since the death of my late parents. Before my fath= er's death, he told me that he made a fixed deposit of the sum of Seven Mil= lion Two Hundred Thousand United State Dollars ($7.200.000.00) in one of th= e Banks here in Burkina Faso, with my name the beneficiary, I traveled down= to Burkina Faso and confirmed his statement positively from the bank. But = on my arrival to the bank, the Bank Director who I meet in person told me t= hat my father's instruction to their bank was that the money would only be = release to me when i present a foreign trustee who will assist me in the tr= ansfer process and also for the investment of the fund oversea
 I decide to contact you personally seeking for your urgent assistance in t= ransferring of my inheritance fund into your bank account and also seek for= your investment assistance in your country as my appointed trustee as the = bank request, the bank said that they must keep to my late father's instruc= tion on the deposit of the fund and immediately get a foreign partner who w= ill assist me, they shall not delay in the transfer of the fund considering= my present condition over here. I have suffered lots of set back as a resu= lt of my parents death and am counting on you to rescue me from my present = condition here over here and give me a better living over there in your cou= ntry. At the success of the fund transfer in your account, I decide offerin= g you 30% of the total funds for your kind help. I will be waiting for your= urgent reply so that i will send you more details regarding the transfer.<= br> 
Please do keep this only to yourself till the fund is successf= ully transferred to you. I beg you not to disclose it till i come over beca= use I am afraid of my wicked stepmother who has threatened to kill me and h= ave the money to herself.  I am waiting your urgent respond.
 =
Yours sincerely
Lydia Kipkalya

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