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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: Madame Cecile Martin <carinek091@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mme.cecilemartin@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 2 Aug 2022 20:34:41 +0100
Subject: very important

greetings to you with much love

i know that this news may come as a surprise to you, I am writing you this
mail with heavy tears in my eyes and great sadness in my heart because I
wanted to find someone from a far away country for important reasons.
Although we have not known or met each other before, I have decided to
contact you as a gesture of goodwill as I have no other option but to
contact you. My name is Ms Cecile Martin and I am contacting you from my
country France. I am married to the late Mr Eric Bernard Martin and we are
both French nationals and have been married eleven years without a child
but unfortunately my husband died in a car accident in 2019.

When my late husband was alive, he deposited a whopping $5.9 million in a
fixed deposit account with a bank in Abidjan, Ivory Coast Africa. My late
husband was an investor and he raised the money through investments and
currently the money is still in the bank in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. I was
diagnosed with cancer by my doctor and given my current state of health I
am not confident that I will continue to live for a long time.

Because of my cancer I'm about to have a serious metastatic operation,
which I don't know if I'll survive or not. What worries me the most is my
current stroke and throat problem as I am having a hard time giving a
speech and seeing my worsening condition I have decided to give the money
in advance to anyone who is faithful and can use it to care for orphans.
Please if you sincerely accept my suggestion to help me realize my
benevolence for poor orphans, I am willing to give you 30% of the money in
appreciation of your good services. If unfortunately I die from this
disease and haven't made an effort to transfer the money to someone who can
use it to help the orphans, my late husband's bank will take over the money
because no one else can come for the money because I am the sole heiress. I
am trying to make this great sacrifice so that God will forgive my sins and
accept my soul in heaven because this disease has made me suffer so much
and sometimes it makes me say negative words against God.

I am also an orphan and have no family members other than my late husband's
relatives. When my husband was still alive his relatives squandered a lot
of money that belonged to him and now that he is dead they have claimed all
his property because I am ill and cannot claim the property. Please as soon
as I get your reply and your agreement to help me transfer the money to
your country and invest it for the benefit of orphans I will give you more
details you need to know about the money. I will also put you in touch with
my late husband's bank in Abidjan, Ivory Coast to contact them and ask for
the money to be transferred to your account. I will also inform the bank
agent about you as the person I have chosen to receive the money on my
behalf.

Your faithful sick sister

Mrs. Cecile Martin

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