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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: Justine Moniz <justinemoniz@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: Justine Moniz <justinemoniz@live.com>
Date: Thu, 17 Oct 2013 02:16:43 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Must Read (Please Dont Ignore)


I really hope you get this on time, but I am in need of some urgent assistance few days back we made an unannounced vacation trip to Manila, Philippines everything was going fine until last night here, my worst fears came true as we were heading back to the hotel...all cash, credit cards and our cell phones were stolen at gun point,and it's hard to get hold of a phone here in Manila it's such a horrible experience for us. Glad we had left our passports in the safe at the hotel we need to get back home.  I have been to the Police and they directed me to the embassy but they're not helping issues at all and canceled all our cards, it appeared I acted quickly enough or they almost would have succeeded in clearing out my bank account, we need some money so we can pay for our hotel bills and get a cab to the airport, and then fly home from there wondering if you can loan me $2,450USD, i will make the refund when i get home,send me an email back, we have
internet access from the lobby in the hotel. I'm sorry to bother you, I just didn't know how else to contact everyone quickly.

Please let me know if you can help me out?

Awaiting your prompt response

Regards.
Justine Moniz.

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