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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: CHARLOTTE JAMES <charlottejamesv2k@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 6 Apr 2021 02:57:01 -0700
Subject: HI

Greetings to you and your family. It is with tears that I am writing you
this mail from my sick bed here in the hospital with the assistance of my
only child Jessica, a 21 years old girl.

I was an orphan before I got married to the late James Martins who was
murdered in Cote d'Ivoire here along with his lawyer a few years ago on
their business trip back from Dubai. He was from Mali and he met me in the
orphanage home here in Abidjan and decided to marry me. He never took me to
his country Mali even for once until his death. All because his parents
insisted that he come to Mali and marry from there. The worst of it all was
that he married in a foreign land and it happened to be an orphan like me.
His entire family decided not to do anything with him anymore.

I single handedly with my only child Jessica buried him here because I
cannot trace his relatives because all of them were against our marriage
because he married an orphan. Because of the stresses and shock of that
painful incident, I developed hypertension and my cancer sickness got
worse.

I am contacting you because I had some money $50.5 Million, which my late
husband deposited with one of the best banks here before his death. I need
your sincere cooperation and assistance to help me receive this fund in
your account and use part of it for the well-being of the poor and less
privileged/ orphanages in your country or elsewhere in the world. In
addition, you shall also help my daughter Jessica to come over to your
country to further her education while you manage her funds.

My daughter Jessica and I have agreed to give you 15% from this total money
as compensation and thanks for your help. We also agreed to give you extra
$100,000 for you to cover any expenses that you may incur in the course of
this fund transfer to your account.

If you are interested and can be TRUSTED, please reply to me in absolute
truth and sincerity immediately for more details before I go for surgical
operation.

Yours Sincerely,
Mrs. Charlotte James & daughter Jessica.

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