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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: sonia kone <mrs_soniakone_00@yahoo.pl>
Date: Sat, 7 Oct 2006 13:10:48 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: From Mrs Sonia Kone,


Calvary greetings,
I am Mrs Sonia kone, the wife of the former minister of finance in Sierr-Leone who died during the political crisis back in Sierr-Leone.
I hope you are aware of the war which has ravaged my country for the past years now . It was in one of this attacks by the rebels that led to the death of my husband .
I was terrified of the situation and because of this I escaped from Sierra - Leone to cote d' Ivoire into a refugee camp but brought along the sum of u.s$18.5 million , in a metallic box and presently in a security company as family valuables .
My aim of contacting you is to seek for your able assistance as a front in transferring this fund abroad into an account , then as a business developer , you can help us to invest wisely in areas you deem lucrative and finally obtain a residential permit for me to stay comfortable in your country of abode .
Presently we cannot go back to Sierra- Leone because of the situation there and you know that cote d' Ivoire where we are now is politically unstable; we therefore wish you could help us get out of here before it become worse.

We are prepared to offer you 10% of the total funds for your able assistance and support and would send you proofs of the funds as soon as we favourably hear from you.
Finally I implore you to treat this transaction with secrecy and confidentiality for security reasons.
Thanking you in anticipation and God bless,
Mrs Sonia Kone.


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