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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: "Sharon Boyd" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mstrandr@zoho.com>
Date: Sat, 9 Sep 2017 04:28:52 -0700
Subject: I need your assistance in charity project

Dear Beloved,

May the peace of God be with you .Please read this mail carefully. I am Mrs. Sharon Boyd from England. I was married to Late Henry Boyd; He was the Director of Sue Link Company. He is a contractor in the West African Region. He died in Spain on the 21st April 2012.

We were married for 11 years without a child. After his death I decided not to re-marry or get a child outside my matrimonial home. When my late husband was alive, he deposited his contract fund in a bank which is now lying there for years. My Doctor told me that I would not last because cancer has affected most of my body because it wasn't detected early enough. Due to my condition, I decided to donate this funds to the less privileged. I need an honest and trustworthy individual that will utilize this money in accordance with my instruction. I want the funds to be used in funding religious charity organizations, homeless orphans and widows.

I took this decision because I don't have any child that will inherit this money and my husband relatives are very unkind to me .I don't want my husbands hard earned money to be misused. I am not afraid of death because I know that I am going to be with God. Exodus 14: 14 say that "the lord will fight my course and I shall hold my peace". If I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of my Attorney and the Bank. For legitimacy, my attorney will issue you a letter of authority that will empower you to be the original-beneficiary of this fund. Any delay in your reply will give me room in sourcing for another individual for this same purpose. If you are not interested, kindly pardon me for contacting you. please keep me in your prayers. You can reach me with my private Email ID: (mstrandr@zoho.com)

Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
Sharon Boyd

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