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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: Mrs Grace Petrucci <iainwright.morgannlewis.ml@gmail.com>
Reply-To: grace.petrucci@vp.pl
Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2017 12:07:59 +0100
Subject: From Mrs Petrucci. Bless you

Beloved,


Blessings from my heart to you.My quest to locate a responsible person
to bring my dreams to reality led me to take this bold step to contact
you through this medium and i would not like you to take offense owing
to the fact that we have not met before.I am Mrs.Grace Petrucci from
Canada,wife to the late Anthony C. Petrucci,who died with my only son
in a ghastly motor accident five years ago.My late husband and i were
married for years before his sudden demise.A weight i have carried for
years.Coupled with the trauma of undergoing cancer treatment for years
now.My health has deteriorated and the doctors are not confident i
will live to see the next two months which is heartbreaking for me.I
decided to sell off all my inherited properties in the USA and
whatever belonging i could lay hands which amounted to $7.5Million now
deposited in a joint account i have with my late husband in a bank.I
took this decision because i do not trust my late husband's surviving
brothers who have a record of criminal behaviors and have being jailed
for various criminal offenses.I am sure they are waiting for me to die
so that they can come and inherit my money.They have not shown concern
regarding my health.They are bitter that i inherited my late husbands
money.I will not allow such bitter minds inherit my money.I rather
give it out to charity and the work of God.

I have decided after praying and my spirit is strong about this
decision to donate this money to charity.To be given to orphanages and
used to improve the life's of those suffering from cancer and
expansion of the word of the Lord.I saw your profile and i prayed over
it that the Lord show me signs that you a trustworthy person and He
did.I decided to contact you seeking that you stand as my next of kin
to receive this funds and give it to orphanages,old people's home and
more.

I have discussed this with my Attorney and he is willing to assist in
the distribution of the money to charity.I feel i have fought a good
fight and my soul is now at peace and i am no longer afraid to die.I
would have loved to speak with you on the phone but,i can't because of
my health condition and the doctor frowns at it.Please always email
me.I will provide you my Attorneys details once you indicate your
interest to assist with this project.
Please reply and let me know if you are interested.

God Bless,

Best Regards,
Mrs.Grace Petrucci

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