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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: sofiaappiah414@gmail.com
Date: 15 Feb 2016 13:10:29 -0600
Subject: ALL ABOUT ME

Hello dear, how are you today i guess you are fine, please don't be offended of the way i started contacting you without knowing you before . I found your email via face book and i picked interest on you after going through your short profile so i decided to write to you immediately thanks for accepting me as your friend i really appreciate . My dear my name is SOFIA Mandy Apia I'm 24, from South Sudan in Central Africa, 5.9ft tall, Fair in complexion,(never married before) and presently i am residing in the refugee camp here in Dakar as a result of the civil war that was fought in my country. My late father Dr Mandy Apia was the personal advices to the former head of state before the rebels attacked our house one early morning and killed my mother and my father in cold blood. It was only me that is alive now and I managed to make my way to a near by country Senegal where i am living now in a refugee camp. I don't have any relatives now whom i can go to, all my relatives ran away in the middle of the war, In this refugee camp we are only allowed to go out two times in a week. Its just like one staying in the prison and i hope by Gods grace i will come out from here soon. I thank God for the life of (Rev Morgan Emmanuel ) who is the Rev pastor of the (Living Christian Church) here in the refugee he has been very nice to me since i came here but i am not living with him rather i am living in the woman's hostel because the refugee have two hostels one for men the other for women. The Pastors Tel number is (+221-77-232-7207) (000221-77-232-7207) if you call tell him that you want to speak with me he will send for me in the hostel to come and answer your call, As a refugee here i don't have any right or privilege to any thing be it money or whatever because it is against the law of this country. I want to further my studies because i only attended my first year before the tragic incident lead to my being in this situation now took place, But i believe with you i can live a batter life again, Please listen to this,when my father was alive he deposited some amount of money in a leading bank in Europe which he used my name as the next of kin, i have his deposit certificate and death certificate here with me which i will send to you latter, the amount in question is $5.7M(five Million seven Hundred Thousand Dollars). So i will like you to help me transfer this money to your account and from it you can send some money for me to get my traveling documents and air ticket to come over to meet with you. You will take %20 from the Total Fund for all the expenses then you will assist me invest the rest of money, Please i kept this secret to people in the refugee here, the only person that knows about it is the Reverend because he is like a father to me. send me your contact information's such as your Names ........................................ Address ...................................... Telephone ..................................... Profession.................................... So in the light of above i will like you to keep it to yourself and don't tell it to anyone for i am afraid of loosing my life and the money if people gets to know about it. Remember i am giving you all this information due to the trust i deposed on you. I like honest and understanding people,truthful and a man of vision, truth and hardworking. Meanwhile i will like you to call me like i said i have a lot to tell you. Darling i want you to know that age or distant doesn't matter anything but love matters a lot in life. I would like to know more about you, your likes and dislikes, your hobbies and what you are doing presently. I will tell you more about myself in my next mail. Attached here is my picture, i like to see yours. Hoping to hear from you soon. Have a nice day and think about me. Yours love,

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