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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: "Mrs.Elisabeth Hoffmann" <udochi731@gmail.com>
Reply-To: elisabethh030@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2023 11:21:22 +0100
Subject: Dearly Loved

Dearly Loved

I bring peace and love to you from God and our Lord Jesus Christ. It
is by the grace of God that I received Christ, having known the truth,
I had no choice but to do what is lawful and right in the sight of God
for eternal life and in the sight of man for witness of God's mercy
and glory upon my life, I know this letter will come to you as a
surprise and you are probably wondering how I got your email address.
Please don't worry so much, I found your email address on the world
yellow page directory and after prayerful and deep consideration I was
inspired to write you this mail, as my only desire is to find a person
of integrity and the right capacity who can diligently handle this
project. so I crave your indulgence to take your time and read it
carefully as I write this message from my sickbed. My name is Ms.
Elisabeth Hoffmann B. I am a 63-year-old Swiss-American widow, I am a
very religious Christian, struggling with cancer, which is in a very
critical phase now, and the medical experts informed me

I inherited money from my late husband Mr. Hoffmann, Unfortunately, my
only surviving brother who should have been my next of kin recently
died as a result of complications arising from being afflicted by the
coronavirus (COVID19). That's why I was left with no option but to
take my chance and reach out to you. I need you to use this money to
start up a charity organization on my behalf. I don't want to donate
this money to already established charity organizations because most
of them have proven to enrich themselves instead of doing the actual
charity for which they receive donations.

I want to assure you that this is not stolen money, it's clean money
and free of any kind of illegality, there is no risk or danger in the
process. There will be a proper transfer of ownership that will be
handled by my lawyer. You take 30% of this money for your personal use
then you use 70% for the charity foundation.

Your quick response is much appreciated so that I can give you more
detailed information.

Thank You!
Mrs.Elisabeth Hoffmann

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