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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?= <crbuenosaires@infovia.com.ar>
Date:
Subject:


Greetings To You My Dear One
 
With due respect, i want y= ou to spare little of your time and carefully read my mail because i am wri= ting this mail to you with tears and sorrow from my heart. Please if for an= y reason you find this mail offensive you can ignore it and do accept my ap= ology for any inconvenience it may have cost you to read. I contact you aft= er going through your profile and my prayers over it in my search for a hon= est 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 th= e former Kenyan Road Minister who died in a plane crashed on the Tuesday 10= th, June, 2008. You can read more about the crash with the link below:
h= ttp://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/06/10/kenya.crash/index.html
&nb= sp;
My predicaments started after the death of my father. After the buri= al of my father, my stepmother and uncle conspired and sold my father's pro= perties 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= tough and sufferings for me since the death of my late parents. Before my = father's death, he told me that he made a fixed deposit of the sum of Seven= Million Two Hundred Thousand United State Dollars ($7.200.000.00) in one o= f the 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 that 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 th= e transfer process and also for the investment of the fund oversea
 = ;
I decide to contact you personally seeking for your urgent assistance = in transferring 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 ins= truction on the deposit of the fund and immediately get a foreign partner w= ho will assist me, they shall not delay in the transfer of the fund conside= ring my present condition over here. I have suffered lots of set back as a = result of my parents death and am counting on you to rescue me from my pres= ent condition here over here and give me a better living over there in your= country. At the success of the fund transfer in your account, I decide off= ering 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 transf= er.
 
Please do keep this only to yourself till the fund is succ= essfully transferred to you. I beg you not to disclose it till i come over = because I am afraid of my wicked stepmother who has threatened to kill me a= nd have the money to herself.  I am waiting your urgent respond.
&n= bsp;
Yours sincerely
Lydia Kipkalya

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