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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: Betty Wilson <interrlink.exprress@gmail.com>
Reply-To: bettywiillsonn@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2023 22:49:35 +0100
Subject: PLEASE I TRUST IN YOU !

--


--
Dear,

Please I am Sorry for intruding upon your privacy. My name is Mrs.
Betty Wilson, I am married to Mr. Campbell Wilson, from the
Netherlands. Please I am writing to you in good faith and hope that
you will understand the importance of my email. I have been recently
diagnosed with Cancer and the doctor said I have less than 8 weeks to
live. Since this sudden news was announced to me, I have been
reflecting over my life in the past. It is painful that after over 24
years of peaceful marriage with my late husband, we had no child of
our own that will inherit our wealth. In the past, I have made
reasonable donations to the victims of earthquakes in Haiti and Japan,
Now that my health is gradually deteriorating, I cannot continue to do
all these by myself any more. I strongly desire to reach out to the
poor and needy people in your country, but I would prefer to continue
this with the assistance of a kind person like you after praying for 3
days God directed me to you.

Please I want to donate this money to you so that you will utilize the
money to establish business investments that will create job
opportunities for the jobless population and less privileged, and open
a charity foundation in the name of me and my late husband. I will
give you more details only if you are willing and ready to handle this
project for me. Thank you.

Yours Faithfully
Mrs. Betty Wilson
bettywiillsonn@gmail.com

Anti-fraud resources: