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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: "George Osborne" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <george_osborne2@outlook.com>
Date: Sat, 21 Oct 2017 15:42:56 -0600
Subject: MY GOOD DEED PLEASE USE IT PRUDENTLY

Dear friend,

Greetings to you in the name of our heavenly God. This mail might come to you as a surprise and the temptation to ignore it as unserious could come into your mind, but please, consider it as a divine wish and accept it with a deep sense of humility. My name is Mr. George Osborne , I'm a 55 years old man, living in united kingdom, though an American.

I was a merchant and i owned two businesses in Dubai. I was also married with two children. My wife and my two children died in An Auto crash that happened in USA 5 years ago. Before this happened my business and my concern for making money was all my interest as A living man. I never really cared about other values in life. But since the lost of my family, I have found a new desire to assist helpless families. I have been helping orphans in orphanage/motherless homes. I have donated some money to orphans in Sudan, South Africa, Cameroon, Brazil, Spain, Austria, Germany and some Asian countries but now my health is no more fine. Before I became ill, I kept $ 8.5 Million in a long-term deposit account in a AIB Finance UK Plc (AIB). Presently, I'm in a hospital where I have been undergoing treatment for esophageal cancer. I have since lost my ability to talk and my Doctors have told me that I have only a few months to live. It is my last wish to see this money distributed to charity organizations. Because rela

Please, I beg you in the name of God to help me collect the deposit from the company and distribute it amongst charity homes and poor & needy in your country. Use your judgment to distribute the money and feel free to reimburse yourself when you have the money for any cost you incur during the process of collecting and distributing the money to Charity organizations, motherless babies’ homes and victims of catastrophe.
I'm willing to offer you a reward If you are willing to help, please reply as soon as you can.

May the good Lord bless you and your family.

Regards,
Mr. George Osborne

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