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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.Richard" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <paulsonbeck20@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2017 19:57:46 -0500
Subject: Mr.Richard

Dear Uncle ,
I am Mr. Richard Gilmore from Republic of Ghana. i am contacting you because i need your assistant for the continuation of my studies in
your country. I am the only adopted daughter of my late parents Mr Bill Gilmore, but my father died in the hospital in February 2015 after a
brief illness as a result of being poisoned from the result of autopsy, but my mother died when i was 3 years old, and since my mother's death
my father took very good care of me and never re-married.My father has the largest cocoa company in Ghana, but after his death, his family
brothers took over my father's house, his company and drove me out of the house saying that i am not their blood but an adopted child. I
cried and pleaded to them but they decided to be wicked on me.
 
Luckily for me, my father made a bank fixed deposit of $1.5Million and wrote
his WILL on my name, and before he died he secretly disclosed to me where he kept the claiming documents and i have these documents with me
now, but his family brothers planned to change the WILL but it was difficult for them due to they were unable to produce the claiming
documents. And they are threatening to kill me if didn't release the documents to them, but i ran and presently,i am in a hide-out at this
moment.All i am seeking is your assistant to stand as my guardian to retrieve the money, and relocate me to your country. I am 19 years old and can 
not handle this matter alone.Please i will like you to reply me so that i will tell you more about this, we need to be fast so that this money
will be transferred to your account, and you will get me invitation letter to come down to your country to continue my education there, i
have finished secondary school and desire to enter into the university.I am waiting for your urgent reply and i will give you a call if you
give me your phone number.Thank you for your kind attention and concern. Here is my private
 
email( richardgilmore30@gmail.com ) God bless you.
 
Your Faithfully,
Mr. Richard Gilmore

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