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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: "Mrs Smith Linda" <mrssmithlinda@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2010 19:29:05 -0300 (BRT)
Subject: Dear Beloved




Hello Dear,

I hope my email to you will be given proper attention despite the fact we
have not known or met each other before.I am contacting you in respect to
my late husband's fund worth US$4.5Million desposited with diplomatic
company here in London for security purposes.But right now my husband is
dead and the security company has been giving me several notifications to
make the claim of the said fund before it is being declared unserviceable
by the beneficiary. I want a situation whereby you assist me to make the
claim of this fund from the security company so that it will be
transferred to your custody pending my arrival to your country so that we
can use it judiciously for investment purposes.I will be offering you 20%
of the fund for your foreign assistance as long as you can help me out in
carrying out this project effectively without insuniating greeds and
selfishness. I am contacting you in this respect for the below purposes,
1, My financial incapability of making the claim at the moment. 2, To
avoid awareness of my late husband's relatives because they would like to
inherit it alone if i dare disclose it to them. 3, To avoid awareness of
British Government about the fund. 4, UK market is so expensive to invest
such amount on business. I hope to hear from you regarding my proposal.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely
linda smith
mrssmithlinda@yahoo.com

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