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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: Dora Nkum <dorankum1993@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 15 May 2019 07:39:57 -1200
Subject: Please Reply

HELLO, MY DEAR,
I am writing this mail to you with tears and sorrow from my heart.
With due respect, trust and humanity. Honestly, I will really like to
have a good relationship with you. I have a special reason why I
decided to contact you, is due to the urgency of my situation.
My name is Doraty Nkum, I was born in 1995, the only child of my
father and I come from Ivory Coast in West Africa. After the death of
my father, my uncles conspired and sold my father's property to a
Lebanese Expatriate and which they shared the money among themselves
and leave me with nothing.
One faithful morning, I opened my father's box and found some
documents which he used to deposit some amount of money in a Bank in
Ivory Coast with my name as the next of kin. The amount is Four
Million, three hundred thousand Euro (€4,300,000.00) and I have
confirmed from the Bank.
Please, I want you to help me to come over to your country and
continue my education while you help me to invest the money in any
business of your choice. It is my intention to compensate you with 20%
of the total money.
I will like to disclose much to you if you can help me to relocate to
your country because my uncles have threatened to harm me because I
have refused to hand over the documents to them. I will appreciate an
urgent message indicating your ability and willingness to handle this
transaction sincerely. I have all the documents for the claims.
Thanks,
Yours sincerely,
Doraty Nkum (Miss)

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