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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: Marica <valmaricaval@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2023 22:49:40 -0700
Subject: Greetings Dear

It is my pleasure to communicate with you, My Name is Mrs. Marcia
Villavicen. I know that this message will be a surprise to you. Firstly, I
am married to Mr. Williams Moor, A gold merchant who owns a small gold Mine
in UNITED STATES; He died of Cardiovascular Disease in mid-March 2018.
During his life time he deposited the sum of ($4,000,000.00, Four Million
Dollars) with my name as the legal rightful appointed beneficiary to the
fund in the Bank . The deposited money was from the sale of the shares,
death benefits payment and entitlements of my deceased husband by his
company.
I decided to handover the money in my account to you for help of the
orphanage homes and the needy once.

Please kindly reply to me as soon as possible to enable me give you more
information but before handing over my details to you please assure me that
you will only take 40% of the money and share the rest to the poor
orphanage home and the needy once, thank you am waiting to hear from you.

1. Name...................................................

2. Phone number...............................

3. Address.............................................

4. Country of Origin and residence

Regards Mrs. Villavicen Marcia

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