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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: Sarah Bright <sarahbright944@gmail.com>
Reply-To: Sarah Bright <sarahbright005@outlook.fr>
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2017 05:14:03 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Hi Dear,


Hi Dear,
I hope my letter meets you in good health. Please do not be
offended to receive this email from me, I am contacting you due to my
present situations so that you will come to my aid. I am Miss
Sarah Bright from Ivory Coast, my father late Mr.John Bright was shot
dead during the last political crisis in my country. Right now i'm an
orphan and had no brother, or sister or mother. I need your help to
transfer the sum of US$8,500,000.00M
(Eight million Five hundred thousand United States Dollars) which i
inherited from my late father. My late father acquired the money
genuinely through his Gold business in the country and deposited it in a
fixed
deposit account in the bank with my name as next of kin before his
death.

I met with the bank and they need me to appoint my
guardian or caretaker who will
receive the money on my behalf due to my age, because my late father
signed agreement bond with the bank that in case of his death the bank
should not release the money to me until i reach 25 years old. But i
have right to appoint reliable person of my choice to receive the money
from the bank on my behalf.
Presently, my wicked uncle is threatening
my life everyday over my late father's properties, and i decided to run
away from the family house with all documents of the deposit to hide
myself somewhere in my country where he cannot locate me. I want to
travel out of my country as soon as possible to further my education and
invest the money.

Dear, I want to choose you as my guardian or
investment partner and present you to the bank for the release and
transfer of the money into your account so that I will come over to your
country to live and continue my education while you help me to invest
the money in good business. I am willing to reward
you with 20% of the total money after successful transfer into your
account for your help. I promise to keep my discussion with you
confidential while you help me to handle the transaction with the bank. I
wait for your reply urgent for way forward.

Thanks,
Miss. Sarah Bright.

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