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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: Elian Zana <stmaryhospitalabidjan@gmail.com>
Reply-To: elianzana02@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 6 Dec 2022 09:50:28 +0100
Subject: RE

From Mrs. Elian Zana.

Hello My Beloved One In Christ.

I greet you with the name of our Lord Jesus Christ it is true that
this letter may come to you as a surprise. Nevertheless, I humbly ask
you to give me your attention and hear me well. My name is Mrs. Elian
Zana from Switzerland. I am married to Mr. James Zana who worked with
our Embassy in Ivory Coast (Cote D’ivoire) for a period of 16 years
before he died.

We were married for 25 years without a child before he died after a
brief illness. Since his death I decided not to remarry due to my
religious belief. When my late husband was alive he deposited the sum
of US$6.5m (Six Million Five Hundred Thousand United State American
dollars) with a Bank in Cote D'ivoire. Presently this money is still
in the custody of the Bank in Cote d’Ivoire recently, my Doctor told
me that I would not last for the next Four months due to cancer
illness.

Having known my condition I decided to donate this money

I want you to use this money for churches, Charity organisation,
orphanages, widows and other people that are in need. l took this
decision because I don't have any child that will inherit this money .
Moreover, my husband relatives are not close to me since I devolop a
Cancer problem and it had been their wish to see me dead in order to
inherit his wealth since we have no Child. These people are not worthy
of this inheritance. This is why I am taking this decision.


Thanks and Remain blessed.

Yours sister in the Lord,

Mrs. Elian Zana

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